I'll Be There with You
by Halo Ash
Summary: Dawn is an ordinary girl who goes to Pallet Town High School. What happens when she meets and falls for Ash Ketchum, the number one high school football player in the country? PearlShipping, ContestShipping, LeafGreenShipping, and NovelShipping. Story inspired by VerifiedBreeze.
1. A Boy Named Ash

**Hey guys, this is my first fan fiction ever. I've been reading a lot of fan fiction since December 2014, so I think I'm finally ready. Tell me what you think in the reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, Satoshi Tajiri does and I will always praise him for creating Pokemon.**

* * *

The birds chirped and the sun made the morning dew on the leaves and grass glisten. A 6'3" 17 year old boy with spiky, jet black hair, tan skin, and auburn brown eyes rose from his bed and let out a huge yawn before groaning. He looked over to his clock which read 6:30.

"Ugggghhhh…. It should be illegal to get up this early."

The boy was known as Ash Ketchum, who was starting his first day of his senior year of high school. But this was no ordinary boy. Ash was the captain and starting quarterback of Pallet High's varsity football team. Ash was a special talent, attracting college scouts since he was a sophomore. He's lead Pallet High to a national championship every year since he's been there. He was very popular around town and was adored by basically everyone because of his warm heart and his selflessness, always putting himself before others, even if they were his enemies. He was also very muscular and had perfectly chisseled abs, along with being completely handsome, which always got him attention from girls, but he was too dense to understand their intentions.

He dragged himself out of his bed and groggily walked over to the bathroom to take a shower. He got undressed, and made his way to the shower. He turned it on, and waited a minute to let it warm up, before stepping tiredly into the shower. He stood there for about five minutes before doing anything and started doing his routine in the shower. He stayed in there for 10 minutes, stepped out and grabbed his towel, and dried himself off.

As he stepped out of the bathroom, his mom called to him from downstairs, "Ash, are you up yet?!"

"Yeah mom, I just got out of the shower!"

He went over to his closet and picked out a pair of dark blue jeans and a navy blue tee shirt with the words "All American" in white and outlined in red across where his chest would be. He looked at his clock, which read 7:10, before going down stairs.

* * *

He approached the kitchen and said, "Morning mom."

"Morning honey. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, just a little anxious for my first day of school, I guess."

"You know, this your last first day of high school."

"Huh, I guess it is. Where has the time gone?"

"I can still remember putting you on the bus for your first day of school. My little boy is all grown up," the young woman known as Delia said as she teared up a little. She grabbed a tissue to wipe the tears from her face.

Ash laughed knowing how emotional his mom can get at times. But, he knows it's only because she cares about him so much. He then said, "Mom, I know you love me, but you don't have to cry."

She sniffled before replying, "I know, but you've grown up so much and after this year you'll be off to college and I won't see you as often as I do."

Delia looked at the clock, which read 7:15, and then said, "Your bus is going to be here in 15 minutes. Here's your breakfast, sweetie."

Ash eyed his plate as if the waiter at a restaurant just served him his food. There were two scrambled eggs with salt and pepper on top, four slices of turkey bacon, and a piece of rye toast with butter. He also had a glass of milk.

He devoured his meal in ten minutes and chugged down his milk. He set down his glass on the table and sighed in satisfaction. "Thanks mom."

"No problem. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Ash rose from his chair and grabbed his backpack, and slung it over his shoulder. He turned to his mom and said, "Bye mom."

"Bye honey. Have a great day. I love you."

Ash put on his shoes and started to walk out the he walked out the door, Delia started to tear up and started to think about all the times Ash has walked out for his first day of school. She was so proud of him and all his accomplishments throughout the years, and was glad he has grown up to be the kind, warm-hearted, and compassionate boy she has raised him to be.

* * *

Ash waited at his bus stop before it came to pick him up. The bus rolled to a stop at 7:30 and opened its doors. Ash stepped onto the bus and groaned. He never enjoyed the bus, even as a little kid. It was too loud, for one. You would think kids would barely be moving this early in the morning, but this disproved that thought. Next, the seats were uncomfortable. He couldn't figure out why, but every time he sat on them he would be adjusting himself trying to find a comfortable position. But worst of all, there was no one on the bus he was really friendly with. All his friends lived on the east side of Pallet Town, and he lived on the west side. Now that he can drive, he doesn't have to worry about relying on his mom or the bus for transportation all the time, but he still rode the bus when he didn't feel like driving.

The bus pulled up to the front of the school, Pallet Town Regional High School (but everyone just called it Pallet High), at 7:45. He got off and made his way to his locker to exchange his books. He opened his locker and spotted his best friend, Gary Oak. He said, "Sup Gary?"

Gary was about 6'0" with spiky auburn brown hair, and hazel eyes. He had on blue jeans, a red polo with blue stripes, and and a gold chain with a cross around his neck and concealed under his shirt. He was pretty fit, had a perfect six-pack, and a gorgeous face. He was quite the ladies man, always hooking up with girls and breaking their hearts a few days later, something Ash never really approved of, but he rarely ever said anything to him about it. He was also on the football team, as the team's best wide receiver. He and Ash were known as the best quarterback-wide receiver tandem in the country.

"Sup Ashy-boy. Ready for one last year of school? After this we'll be done with school forever!"

Ash sweat dropped before saying, "You know Gary, we still have college after this. I plan on playing college football with a top-notch school. Maybe I'll go to the University of Cianwood, home of the Feraligatrs. **(A.N. comment to try to figure out what school I'm referring to and there might be something in it for the first person to guess correctly)**

"Man, I'm not going to dumb ol' college. I'm going to study to with my grandfather and become an animal researcher."

Ash sweat dropped and fell down anime style before saying to his best friend, "Gary, even if that is your plan, and a crappy one at best, your still going to be learning from your grandfather. It will still be like school, just not in a classroom. Plus, don't you want to play college football, too?"

"Maybe if I get a good enough offer, I still gotta think about it."

Gary realized his best friend was right, but decided not to let him know that and shrugged it off. The bell then rang and the two went their separate ways to their classes. Ash had English first, which was his least favorite subject. Even though he's been told before by his past teachers that he's a very good writer, he just never was much of an outside-the-box thinker. He was always more analytical and more "black and white" about things, meaning he preferred more straightfoward things, like math.

* * *

**First Period, 8:00**

As Ash entered his English classroom, he spotted a few of his friends, Drew Rose and Paul Shinji. He waved to them, as Drew only waved back, while Paul just nodded to recognize Ash's wave.

Drew was a senior as well. He was about 5'9", had emerald green hair that was the same color as his eyes. His hair was wavy and long, which made practically every girl swoon over him. Because of all that attention, his confidence is sky-high, a little too high to his friends. He wore a black long sleeve shirt with a purple short sleeved jacket over it. He also wore blueish-green pants with black shoes. He was a little on the lean side, but was a little muscular. Drew was also on the football team, as the starting kicker and punter.

Paul was also a senior. He was about 5'11" and had long and shaggy purple hair. He wore a blue-violet and black fleece over a blue shirt, along with gray pants and shoes the same color as his fleece. Paul was more of a loner, not real sociable and often was labeled as emo, even though he wasn't. He had a dark past that he never told anyone about, which made him quite the mystery. Paul as well was on the football team, as the starting linebacker. His mean demeanor has helped him demolish opposing team's players in the past and has become well respected around the country and was recruited highly by colleges. He was also completely jacked, which would impress any girl, but his attitude always left girls reluctant about asking him out.

Ash went over to his friends and sat next to them. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Drew was the first to respond. "Not much. I went to Slateport City for the summer, but other than that I didn't do much. How about you?"

"I just stayed home and worked out for football most of the time and hung out with Gary. I did go to Cinnabar Island for two weeks, though. How was your summer Paul?"

Paul waited a few moments before responding. "Not much. I just stayed home while Reggie was on business trips. Same old boring and depressing life."

Ash and Drew felt bad for Paul. He may have been a great athlete, but he lived a life no one should. Both of Paul's parents died in a car crash when Paul was 10, so Reggie, his brother who's 10 years older than he is, had to take care of him since then. But Reggie's job as a financial consultant has sent him on many business trips, so Paul is alone most of the time and has to take care of himself. That's why he wants to become a football player, so he can do what he loves the most as a profession.

A minute later, the teacher came in to the classroom. "Hello class, my name's Professor Juniper. I'll be your teacher for English this year."

"Oh boy," Ash thought, "another boring year of school. I'm so glad football exists or else I wouldn't have much of a motive to attend school."

* * *

**First Lunch, 11:35**

Ash walked into the cafeteria, and got his food, mac n' cheese and hotdogs, along with a glass of chocolate milk. He was scoping out the lunchroom looking for his friends, before his eyes came upon Drew's oddly colored hair. He teased him about it sometimes, but Drew's oddly colored hair came in handy sometimes. As he approached the table he also saw Paul, Gary, and some girls he's seen around school, but never have met before. The first girl had shoulder-length, orange hair with a ponytail on the side of her head, and ocean blue eyes. She wore blue shorts that went down to her thighs and and a yellow shirt.

The next girl was a brunette that had hair in a "V" shape, sapphire blue eyes, a red bandana, tight blue biker shorts, and a tight red shirt, which made her bust extremely noticeable. Ash couldn't help but take a quick glance at her rack before looking over to the third girl.

The third girl was also a brunette, but a lighter shade of brown. Her hair came down to her mid-back and she had light brown eyes. She wore a tight blue shirt, a red skirt, and a white hat that had a round brim, a red stripe around the hat, and the outline of a red semi circle on the front of the hat.

The last girl had deep blue hair that went down to her mid-back, the same color eyes, and she wore a white beanie with a pink circle on it. She also wore a magenta scarf, a black and pink miniskirt over a white undershirt, and knee high black sock and pink boots. He found her the most attractive out of the four.

Ash sat down and said hi to his friends before introduing himself to the four girls. "Hey, I don't think we've met before," speaking to all four girls, "but I've seen you around. My name's Ash Ketchum. What's your names?"

The brunette with the red bandana spoke up first. "Well, I'm May Maple. The other brunette's name is Leaf Green, the red head is Misty Waterflower, and the bluenette is Dawn Berlitz."

"Dawn...I'm sure I've heard that name somewhere. Are you on the cheerleading squad?"

"Yeah I am," the bluenette responded. "I'm the captain, in fact. But you didn't need to introduce yourself, I'm fully aware of who _you_ are. You're the star quarterback of the football team."

Ash scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said, "Yeah I guess I am, but I don't like to bask in the fame. My friends are on the football team too. Gary's the top wide receiver, Drew's the kicker, and Paul's the starting middle linebacker."

"I've seen you all before," said Misty. "You," she said pointing to Paul, "I heard are the number one linebacker in the country."

Paul had a bland look on his face and only nodded in agreement. Although he didn't gloat as much as Drew and Gary, he wasn't going to deny he was the best high school linebacker in the country, something he was particularly proud of.

Leaf finally spoke and said to Gary, "You and Ash are quite the duo. You guys seem to really have perfect chemistry."

"Yeah, Ashy and I go back a long way. We've been best friends since we were toddlers," Gary said.

Drew spoke confidently saying, "And I'm the starting kicker."

"There's only one kicker so you start by default, " May said.

Ash, Gary, and even Paul started to chuckle.

"Hey, the kicker has an important job! I just make it look easy. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't make any field goals, which is better than coming up with no points and a turnover on downs."

"I guess so," May replied.

Ash looked at his phone before saying, "Hey class starts in ten minutes and I got to go exchange my books, let's go guys."

The other guys nodded and got up and walked to dump their trash. "It was nice meeting you girls," Ash said.

"You too, we'll probably see each other around school," May said.

* * *

As the guys walked away, Dawn said dreamily, "Wow, that Ash sure is something else. Plus, he's really cute."

* * *

**Well, that was my first chapter ever. It might not be that long, but they will probably get longer as the story goes on and I get more experience. Review please so I can fix any mistakes I made. But no flaming, seriously guys it's not cool. **

**I also just came back to school from spring break today. I also a fairly busy school schedule, being a junior and all, plus I manage the baseball team (since I got cut despite making it the past two years), so I'll try to update when I can. Don't worry though I won't take forever to update. Again, review and have a great day.**


	2. Getting to Know You

**Hey guys. Thanks to those people who took time to read and review my story. Glad to know that I'm off to a good start. Be sure to check out VerifiedBreeze's story _Love&amp;Basketball_, which is the inspiration of this story. It has put my heart through a lot, but it's a great story. **

**Also, congrats to Enough1122 for correctly guessing the college I was referring to in the previous chapter. It was the University of Florida Gators. That should of been easy since on my profile, it says the Gators are my favorite collegiate team. Enough1122 can submit an OC via PM messaging and he/she will get a part in the story.**

**Anyway, enough of by blabbering. On to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon because if I did I wouldn't be doing this. I'm not going to be doing this all the time because it's tedious so this last time should do it.**

* * *

**Last Period, 2:00**

Ash was walking to his next class, when he spotted Gary a few feet from him. "Hey Gary!" Ash yelled.

Gary turned his head and saw his best friend waving and walked over to him. "Hey Ashy-boy, what's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just walking to Physics. How about you?"

"Hey I have Physics too. You have Professor Birch?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome!"

Gary and Ash walked to the science building and entered the classroom. They took their seats next to each other and just played games on their phones for a few minutes. Every minute, more and more students entered the classroom and took their seats. Ash looked up when he heard someone fall down. When he looked up, his heart started beating a little bit faster. It was Dawn who had fallen. She was frantically trying to pick up the spilled contents of her backpack. Ash instinctively went over to help her, as he was known to help anyone in need. He started picking up Dawn's materials with her. When Dawn noticed a hand pick up one of her books, she looked up and saw Ash, and slightly blushed, but Ash didn't notice. "Thanks," Dawn said.

"No problem. So you're in Professor Birch's Physics class too?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think a star athlete would be in a class like this one."

"Well I guess I'm one of a kind then," Ash said while scratching the back of his head.

Dawn chuckled a little at Ash's attempt to be funny.

"C'mon. Come sit next to me. I'm right next to Gary there," Ash said while pointing to his seat.

"Alright."

Dawn sat in the desk next to Ash's and immediately started to feel warm and started to sweat. "No boy has ever had this kind of effect on me before, not even my childhood friend, Kenny," she said to herself. "I've seen him before since I cheer at the football games, but never had got to know him. Well from now on, I'm going to become his friend, and maybe more...no, no what am I thinking, a guy like him would never go out with an ordinary girl like me." Dawn drew her attention to Professor Birch who had been calling her name for a minute now and he was getting impatient.

"Dawn! What are you day-dreaming for? Pay attention."

Dawn put her hand on her cheek and her elbow on the desk and stared at Ash for about 10 minutes, only catching a few things the teacher said. Then Prof. Birch said something that caught her attention.

"As a way of getting a first impression of your current knowledge of the material in this course, I will be assigning a project. You will do this with a partner," everybody started to look to their friends in the class as he said this, "that _I_ will be picking." Everybody then groaned. "Okay let's see..." The teacher started to pair up students. "Gary and...hmmmm...Clemont." Gary knew who that was, he was a big science nerd, so obviously, being the lazy bum he is, Gary was relieved to have a nerd do the project for him, since he planned on doing none of the work. Clemont had messy blonde hair, had big round glasses, and wore a blue jumpsuit. "And finally, Ash and...Dawn."

Dawn jumped at her name being called, "Yes," she thought, "this is my chance to get to know Ash." She kept smiling and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get rid of it. People started to look at her weirdly, but she didn't care.

* * *

Soon class was over and she started to gather her books. She went over to Ash as he was walking out with Gary, "Ash," he turned around and looked at her.

"What's up Dawn?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to start working on that project after school today. You know, after our practices, of course," she said twirling her hair with her fingers. Ash noticed this and found it cute.

"Yeah, but I didn't drive today, and my mom is working late so I have to take the bus after practice."

"No worries, I drove today I can give you ride with me. Where do you want to do the project?"

"I don't care."

"Can we go to your house, my mom is home and since you said your mom is working late, we'll have more peace and quiet."

"Sounds like a plan. Do you want me to drive since you don't know where my house is, or do you want me to just direct you?"

"You can drive, that way there's no chance we'll get lost."

Ash nodded is head and walked with Gary to football practice, thinking about Dawn the whole time.

"Why am I getting this weird feeling I've never had before?" Ash thought to himself. "I'll think about this later. Right now, I gotta concentrate on practice."

* * *

**After Practice, 5:00**

Ash and Dawn met up with each other after their respective sports practices. "So, how was practice, _Mr. Superstar_?" Dawn said in a teasing tone. She had only known this guy for one day, yet she feels like she's known him for years.

"It was fine. I saw you practicing on the track," Ash said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, you did?" Dawn replied with a little of a blush.

"Yeah, you looked pretty cute in your little practice outfit there." Ash clamped his mouth with his hands. "Wait, what did I just say?" Ash thought to himself.

Dawn was blushing like crazy. You could mistake her face for a tomato. They both decided to just disregard Ash's last comment. There was an awkward silence before they headed off towards Dawn's car. When they both got to the car, Ash got in the driver's seat and adjusted the seat, since Dawn was significantly smaller than him. Dawn got in the passenger's seat and they drove off.

The whole ride, Dawn kept thinking about what Ash said to her. "He called me cute. Does that mean he likes me?" she thought.

Ash was too thinking about what he said to Dawn. "Where did that come from? It just slipped from my mouth. I bet she thinks I'm a pervert or something," he thought.

They pulled into Ash's driveway, and got out of the car. Ash opened Dawn's door for her and she thanked him. As Dawn got out of the car, she looked at Ash's house. It was fairly small, but not that small. It was white, it had two floors, and she saw a garden on the side of the house. As they entered she looked around the interior and saw a small living room with a small couch and a recliner chair around a flat screen TV. There was a kitchen connected with the living room. It had a small table and a stove on the countertop, along with a oven. "You have a cute little house," she said to Ash.

"Thanks, a lot people ask how I live in such a small place, but since it's just my mother and me, **(A.N. no it's not my mother and I)** it doesn't feel that small," Ash replied.

"Just you and your mom? Where's your dad? And don't you have any siblings?"

"Yeah it's just us. My dad died in a plane crash when I was an infant, so I never really knew him. And no, I don't have any siblings."

Dawn felt bad for Ash, but she was in a similar situation. "That's the same thing with me. I don't have any siblings and my dad died when I was a baby, but it was from cancer." There was a brief silence. They both felt there was finally someone who understood their situation. It stayed silent before Dawn spoke up. "Well, enough of this gloomy subject, let's get going on this project." Ash nodded and he showed her around upstairs. There were five rooms. She saw the bathroom on her right, a bedroom with floral wallpaper that she assumed to be his mother's room, two other rooms on her left, and a room at the end of the hall that she assumed was Ash's since it had a "Keep Out" sign written sloppily and in green crayon. "Hey Ash, what are those other two rooms?" Dawn asked while pointing at each door.

"Oh those, those are just guest rooms."

Dawn made an "o" with her mouth and they continued towards Ash's room. As they entered the room, Dawn looked around. There was a bunk bed, a bunch of posters on the walls of different sports teams and players and TV shows. There was a book shelf with a bunch of books, and an impressive number of trophies and other awards on top. She knew he was a great athlete, but not this great. There was also a desk and a few clothes on it, and a bathroom. Dawn noticed the bathroom and smelled herself. She reeked. She hesitated a few times before getting Ash's attention. "Hey Ash." He looked towards Dawn and she reluctantly asked, "C-C-Can I use your shower. I-I thought I could wait until I get home, but I stink."

"Sure, there's a towel and everything in there. Help yourself."

She thanked him and walked into the bathroom and started to undress herself.

* * *

As she turned on the shower and waited for it to warm, she started thinking to herself. "Ash is such a nice guy. He has a good heart, and he's like me. I've never met anyone with the same situation as me. Everyone used to bully me because I had no father. I would come home crying to my mom every other day. Well now I have someone to help me if anyone bothers me." She smiled as she stepped into the shower.

* * *

While Dawn was in the shower, Ash was trying to think of ideas for their project, but he couldn't. All he could think about was Dawn. She was unlike any girl he had ever met. She was smart, funny, beautiful, wait...beautiful, what was he thinking, he just met this girl, but she _was_ using his shower. Damn. No, no, no. She's here to do a project with him. But, he couldn't help but picture her in ther shower and dirty thoughts came to his mind. He stared blankly at nothing in particular while thinking about her naked body, her smooth, soft body. He snapped himself out of his thoughts and continued trying to think of something he could use for his project. They were assigned to give a presentation about The Laws of Motion. He had learned this briefly in science before, but because it was a general science class, he didn't learn it in depth. He thought and thought until he felt a cool autumn breeze. He noticed a window was open, so he went to close it. Before he could close it, though, the wind blew open a door and Ash's jaw dropped to the floor.

* * *

**Oooh, cliff hanger ;) But you probably have an idea of what happened. I may have updated this quickly, but I can;t guarantee these quick updates constantly. **

**Hope you guys enjoyed the fic and don't forget to review and tell me what you thought.**

**Also, Enough1122, don't forget to sumbit an OC, if you would like.**

**Adios!**


	3. The Awkward Situation

**Hey guys. I left you on a cliffhanger last time. Sorry for the long wait. I had a lot of school work to do, and since I get done baseball at around 5:30 or 6:00, and I go straight to dinner from there, I don't start till really late, so I've been trying to continue as much as possible.**

**Well the wait is over. I only got a few reviews last chapter so either I'm doing well and there isn't anything else to say, or no one is reading my story. C'mon people, review. **

**There's a mature scene in here that might raise a few eyebrows about changing the rating, but I think teens can handle this. There's also going to be quite a bit of swearing in this chapter and probably more to come, since unfortunately, it is stuck into my vocabulary. Basically, I swear a little too much because i've heard it so much, it's almost an instinct to swear. But every teen swears, so I don't think that will be a problem regarding the rating.**

**Also, since Enough1122 has passed up on the OC offer, I'm opening up OC submissions for anybody. The details of the submission are in the author's note at the end of this chapter.**

**Well, enough of my talking. On with the fic!**

* * *

Ash was speechless. All he could do was gaze at the sight in front of him. Dawn was standing in Ash's bathroom with absolutely no clothes on. She had one over her breasts and the other covering her genitals. Her blue hair was soaked and water was dripping on the bathroom floor from her body. Her freshly cleaned body was still wet and shone and glistened in the light of the room. Her skin was a little pale, but it suited her. Her face, on the other hand, was so red it seemed as if it was an apple, and her face showed more embarrassment than an older sibling being embarrassed by his younger sibling. To say Dawn was shocked about the situation was a vast understatement. She had not expected this one bit.

* * *

Dawn turned off the water and squeegeed the shower. She then stepped out of the shower and remembered that she forgot to get a towel. She carefully walked, so she wouldn't slip on the wet floor, over to the linen closet to retrieve a towel, but she found that there were none. "Shit, there's no towels. Ash must've not realized there were none in there," she cursed. "How am I going to dry off now?" She thought of a risky plan, but hesitated whether to do it. She decided that she had no other decision, so she carefully walked over to the bathroom door, and started to slowly open it, so she could only peek her head out to ask Ash to get a towel for her. She slowly started to turn the door knob and cracked open the door, but before she could go a little further, the door blew open to reveal Ash staring at her.

* * *

She was trying to move, but she was so embarrassed she couldn't mover her legs. Ash was trying not to stare either, out of respect for Dawn, but her body was so perfect, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Ash had good self-control though, so he reverted his eyes away from her. He then started to talk to Dawn, but facing away from her to show respect towards her and hide his massive blush. "Why are you out here without a towel?"

"You said there were towels in there, but when I looked in the linen closet, there were none," Dawn responded while trying to hide her blush, but there was no avail.

Ash suddenly realized his mistake and said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head, "Oh, well I guess that's my bad then."

"Yeah, it was," Dawn retorted sternly.

Ash walked out of the room to get a towel for Dawn, but with his eyes closed, so he bumped into almost everything in the room, before feeling his way out. He rushed down to the laundry room, and soon enough found a laundry basket full of freshly cleaned towels. As he exited the laundry room with the basket in hand, his mom walked into the door. Ash started to panic in his head. He tried to speed walk so he could reach the stairs, but his mom stopped him. "Hi Ash," she said to him.

Ash replied nervously saying, "H-Hey mom." He tried to escape upstairs, afraid his mom might find out about a naked Dawn in his room, but his mom grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Why are you in such a rush? And whose car is that out there?"

"Well, I want to put away these towels really quick, and that car, I borrowed from a friend. I'm going to give it back to them tomorrow," Ash lied. His mom wasn't buying it, but decided not to press the subject.

"Alright, just come down after you're done. I want to hear about your first day of school."

"No can do mom, I gotta do homework first." That wasn't a lie, he wanted to start this project with Dawn, but he doubted she would want to work on it tonight after their awkward situation.

He sprinted up the stairs and burst into his room. The bathroom door was closed, so he assumed Dawn was in there. "Hey, Dawn!" Ash screamed, but no so loud that his mom would hear him.

"Yeah," she replied from the other side.

"I got clean towels here."

She cracked the door open a little and stuck her hand out the crack, waiting for a towel to be given to her. Ash put a towel in her hand, and she retracted it and closed the door. Ash sighed in relief, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His mom hadn't found out about Dawn being naked in his room, plus he saw her naked, too. He blushed thinking back to the awkward encounter, but his thoughts were interrupted by a nervous Dawn, who exited the bathroom and was fully clothed. She sat down on Ash's bed and Ash sat next to her, but not too close, so he wouldn't seem perverted. There was an awkward silence, before it was broken by Ash. "Sooooooooo, do you still want to work on that project tonight, or do you want to go home?"

Dawn thought for a minute. She thought maybe tonight wasn't the best night to work on the project, given what just happened, but they hadn't even started it. She contemplated for a while before coming to a decision. "We should probably work on the project now, so we don't fall behind."

Ash nodded in agreement and they continued to work on the project for another hour and a half, until they were interrupted by the ringing of Dawn's phone. She looked to see who it was, and her eyes widened in fear when she saw it was her mom. She had forgot to tell her she was going to Ash's house. She slid her phone across the screen, and answered. "Hello."

"Dawn, where are you?! Do you realize what time it is?!"

She looked at Ash's digital clock on his nightstand and saw it was 8:30. "Shit," she said to herself. "Sorry mom, I guess I lost track of time."

"Where are you though?"

"I'm at May's house. I drove there after school to hang out with her," Dawn lied. She never ever lied to her mom unless she really had to. She hated to do it because her mom was such an honest person.

"Well get your rear end over here!"

Her mom then hung up and Dawn put down her phone. She turned towards Ash and said, "I gotta go, my mom's pissed at me."

"Well, we can't let my mom see you, or she might get the wrong idea."

"Well, she wouldn't be getting a completely wrong idea," Dawn said, while blushing and chuckling at the same time.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but still."

Dawn nodded her head and asked, "So how do you suppose I get out without your mom noticing me?"

Ash thought for a minute then thought of an idea. "Stay here," he said, and he left the room and checked to see if the coast was clear. He went downstairs and didn't see his mom. He went back upstairs to his mom's room and checked there. She was in there laying on the bed. Ash went back to his room to get Dawn. "Okay," he whispered, "my mom's laying down in her room, so let's hurry."

Dawn nodded and followed Ash quickly, but silently out the door and down the stairs. He let Dawn out the door, and he followed her, closing the front door behind him.

"Sorry for what happened tonight," As said embarrassingly.

Dawn felt bad. What happened was an accident, and Ash was acting like it was his fault. "No, it's all right. I was an accident. I don't think any lower of you than I did before." She needed to reassure him, it made her upset to see him upset. "Besides," she continued, "I kinda enjoyed tonight." Ash smiled and Dawn smiled. Then they hugged each other.

Dawn melted into his arms. It just felt so right to be in his arms. She felt so safe when she was with him, like nothing or no one could hurt her. She snuggled her head against his chest and just wanted to stay in this embrace forever.

Ash had the same warm feeling he got when he talked to Dawn after Physics class. He loved her body against his, and loved the embrace they were in, enjoying every second. He caught the clean and soapy scent of her hair, and sighed in content.

They eventually, but reluctantly broke their embrace. Both of them didn't want to, but they knew they needed to, or else two things would happen: Dawn's mother would call screaming at the top of her lungs for her to get her ass home, or Ash's mom would notice them and might get the wrong idea. Dawn walked over to her car and got in the driver's seat. She waved to Ash, and he waved back, then pulled out of the driveway.

Little did either of them know that someone was watching them from the window of the house. "I'm so proud of Ash," Delia said. "My little boy is starting to become a man before my very eyes. I just hope he's happy in the end." When she noticed Dawn pull away and Ash start to walk inside, she decided to go downstairs and talk about this later with him.

* * *

Ash entered the house through the front door and plopped down onto the couch. He took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair, thinking about the moment he and Dawn had just shared. "Wow," he thought to himself, "I keep getting this warm and fuzzy feeling. The weird part is, I don't want it to go away. Maybe I'll ask mom later on, but I need more time to think about this."

Ash was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of his mom coming down the stairs. "Hey, mom," he said nonchalantly as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Hi sweetie. Did you put those towels away?"

"Yes."

"And do your homework?"

"Yes."

"Great. How was your first day of school?"

Ash was starting to get a little annoyed with his mom interrogating him. "Fine," Ash replied with a little annoyance in his voice.

"Did you see all your friends, or make any _new_ ones?" Delia said emphasizing new. She saw a blue-haired girl hugging Ash affectionately, but she didn't know who she was, Hopefully he'd tell her about her.

"Yeah, I saw Gary, Drew, and Paul. Same ol' them."

"And any _new _friends?"

Ash was wondering why his mom kept asking if he made any new friends, even though he did, he didn't feel like telling her now. "Nope," Ash replied.

Delia knew that was a lie, but maybe he doesn't want to tell her yet. She decided to just try again later. It was 8:45 and neither of them had ate. "What do you feel like having for dinner?"

"Just some leftovers is fine."

"Okay, my little man."

* * *

As Dawn was pulling into her driveway, she was wondering how her mom would react to her coming home at 8:45. Her mom sounded pissed off to high hell on the phone, so she was scared to confront her, but the longer she waited, the more her mom got mad. She got out of the car, walked to the front door, and slowly turned the door knob. When she opened it, her mom was sitting on the couch, looking at her, with her legs crossed, her arms crossed, and a pissed off expression on her face.

Dawn started to go upstairs to avoid her mom, but as she set her foot on the first step, her mom sternly said, "Dawn." She stopped and turned her head to face her mom with a sheepish look on her face. "H-Hey mom."

"Sit. Now," her mom said more stern than last time.

Dawn nervously walked over to to a chair across from her mom and slowly sat down in it, while looking at the floor. She looked up at her mom for a second, but looked back down at the floor. Her mom had a more pissed off expression than a Gyarados.

"Dawn," her mom said sternly. Dawn slowly lifted her face and looked at the rage in her mom's eyes. "Why are you home this late at night?", she said not as stern as before, but still angrily.

Dawn thought, with a scared expression on her face, about if she should tell her mom where she really was. I mean, she had never met Ash until today, but now they were acting like they've known each other for years. But they haven't, and her mom doesn't know who he is, so her mom would obviously get the wrong idea. Well, not completely wrong, it's not like they did anything intimate, but they did share an awkward "moment" together.

"Dawn?", her mom said again in a slightly annoyed voice.

Well, if she didn't tell her now, she would have to come up with a good lie, something she wasn't good at doing. "I was...at someone's house," she finally said.

"Whose house?"

"A friend."

"Do I know this friend?"

Dawn felt like she was being interrogated by the police. "Ummmmmm, no."

"So, who is he?"

Dawn's head shot straight up. Shocked couldn't begin to described how she felt. Her mother assumed she had a boyfriend. Well she does kinda like Ash, but they have a great friendship, and she doesn't want to mess that up. Dawn continued to have an awed expression on her face while staring at her mother.

"Well?", her mother said.

"Well, he's a friend, but not that kind of friend."

"So what were you doing over there?"

"Well, we met at lucnh. He sat down with his friends, who were sitting at the same table as my friends and me. I've seen him before since, but never actually met him. He and his friends introduced themselves, and we did the same back. They're all on the football team, so I've seen them before."

"Oh great, sports jocks," her mom said in a sarcastic tone.

"They're not all like that," Dawn said in a defensive tone, "the guy I was hanging out with is a real sweetheart. He puts other before himself, he's modest, he's smart, you don't know anything about him." Dawn was really mad that her mom would jump to conclusions like that.

"Well it seems you have a little crush on this guy," her mom said with a smirk on her face.

Dawn's face was burning, she couldn't stop blushing no matter how hard she tried. "Maybe just a little, but we've become really good friends, and I don't want to ruin that."

"Okay, but you never said why you were over his house."

"Well, he and his best friend are in my Physics class, and the teacher assigned a project, so he could evalute our understanding of certain topics that will be covered throughout the year. The teacher assigned partners for it, and it was me and him. So after our practices, we agreed to go to his house and work on the project."

Dawn's mom scoffed, "Of course he chose his house."

"It's not like that. He actually didn't care, I suggested his house because his mom was at work and we'd have more quiet," Dawn argued.

"And a parent wasn't home, even better," her mom said sarcastically.

"Whatever, it wasn't like that," Dawn said while crossing her arms.

"May I know the name of this mysterious boy?"

"His name's Ash Ketchum."

"Oh, the star quarterback for Pallet High?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you seem to have an interesting friend. A star athlete who's kind and caring, unusual, but in a good way."

Dawn only nodded her head, then stood up. "Well, I'm going to get ready for bed. Goodnight," she said.

"What about dinner?", her mom inquired.

"I'm not that hungry," Dawn replied.

Her mom nodded her head, and went into the kitchen.

Dawn headed upstairs, relieved her mom wasn't too upset about the situation. She did her nightly routine, then got in bed. She sighed dreamily, thinking about Ash.

* * *

**Well I decided not to leave you on a cliff hanger since I won't be posting a new chapter until after Easter. I have family coming over, so it will be too hectic to work properly. I'm sorry again for taking awhile. Review and tell me what you think of this chapter. **

**Also here's the format for anyone who wishes to submit an OC:**

**First and Last Name**

**Gender**

**Height **

**Hair &amp; Eye Color**

**Body Build (ex. chunky, skinny, muscular, etc.)**

**Age**

**Interesting Facts about them (optional)**

**Background (optional)**


	4. And the Rumors Begin

**Hey guys. I'm sooooo sorry I've taken so long updating this story. I'll tell you why at the author's note at the end of the chapter. But, I've kept you waiting long enough. Also OCs are credited to espeon44, Coyote2486, randypandy11, and Blue Phoenix 20th.**

* * *

Ash's eyes fluttered open before he rubbed them. He yawned while looking at the clock before becoming alarmed **(A.N. Haha get it)**. His clock read 7:20, which meant he overslept. "Shit," he said, "I gotta shake a leg."

He didn't even bother taking a shower, he just brushed his teeth and put deodorant under his armpits and on his torso. Then, he wet his hair a little so it didn't look like there was a Pidgey on his head. He hurriedly put on his clothes and ran down the stairs. While hurrying he tripped on the stairs and fell at the bottom. "Ugh," he groaned.

Ash rubbed his head and looked up at his mother who standing over him and making a "tsk" sound over and over.

"You should wake up earlier so this doesn't happen," his mom said in a joking manor.

"Yeah yeah yeah I know," Ash replied in an irritated tone.

Ash sped walked into the kitchen and looked at the clock which read 7:35.

"Ah fuck it, I'll eat breakfast in the car," Ash decided.

"Don't use that language in this house _young man_," Delia stated sternly.

"Whatever."

Ash grabbed a banana and an untoasted bagel, slung his backpack over his shoulder and rapidly put on his shoes before he ran out the door. Ash then came back, opened the door, and said, "Oh, love you mom! Bye!"

Delia smiled and replied, "Love you too honey!"

Ash drove while stuffing food into his mouth while also trying to stay within the speed limit. He threw his empty banana peel into the woods on the side of the road and almost hit a person jogging on the side of the road.

"Hey watch where you're throwing that kid!"

Ash ignored him and kept driving.

* * *

He arrived at school at 7:45. After parking his car, he got out and saw Drew walking in the parking lot. "Drew!" Ash screamed.

Drew turned around and waved to Ash and cried, "Hey man!"

Ash ran over to Drew and walked with him to the lockers. "How was the first day of school for you?" Ash asked.

"Eh, boring. You?"

"Same. Well….. actually….Professor Birch assigned us a project with partners."

"A project, on the first day? What a dick."

"I know, but….it was with partners, soooooo yeah."

"Who was your partner? You didn't get Gary right?"

"Thank Arceus no. I got Dawn."

Ash's face started to get red and he sweat dropped anime style.

"Oh that cute bluenette we met yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"Did you start the project?"

Ash was about to answer but exchanged his books from his locker first. After he was done, he and Drew walked to Spanish together.

"Yeah she came to my house to work on it last night." Ash immediately covered his mouth realizing he had said too much to Drew.

"Sooo, you were alone with her, huh?" Drew said in a perverted tone.

As Drew asked that they walked into the classroom, so Ash took this as an opportunity to not answer Drew's question. But, his hopes were deterred when he saw Dawn sitting at a desk. "Shit," Ash thought. He was glad to see Dawn, but at the same time, Drew is going to be a pain in the ass and ask her about last night. Dawn saw Ash and Drew and waved them over. Ash sat next to Dawn and Drew next to Ash.

"Oh Ash," Dawn said, "I forgot to get your phone number yesterday."

Drew smirked as Dawn said this and looked at Ash while moving his eyebrows up and down. Ash flipped him off and turned around to Dawn.

"It's (347) 478-2843 **(A.N. This is something I randomly typed so my apologies if this is anyone's number)**," Ash said.

Dawn typed it into her phone. "Thanks. I'll text you." She typed a silly message and sent it to him.

Ash looked at his phone and read her text:

_Hey cutie ;)_

Ash quickly recorded her number into his phone and put it in his pocket. The teacher, Juan, entered the classroom and started speaking in Spanish. "Hola clase. ¿Cómo están?"

The students looked dumbfounded at Juan and he sweat dropped anime style.

The class kept quiet until one of the students, Brian Mills, broke the silence. Brian was a junior a little shorter than Dawn, had green eyes and short brown hair, and was overweight. Though, his large size didn't keep him from hitting on every pretty girl in school, including Dawn and her friends, much to their annoyance. He said, "You're a male Spanish teacher? I didn't know they existed." The class started to giggle until Juan said, "You only speak Spanish in this class, comprende?!"

"Sí," Brian said sighing.

Juan continued speaking in Spanish, which most of the class didn't understand. They could get the gist of what he was saying, but nothing past that.

Ash sat in his desk with his head rested on his folded arms, barely keeping awake, until he heard his phone vibrate in his pocket. He discretely pulled out his phone and checked it to see that Drew texted him. Ash turned his head, while keeping his current position, and looked at Drew, who was smirking at him. Ash looked at the text from Drew which read:

_So what happened with Dawn last night?_

Ash quickly responded saying:

_This isn't the right time. We're in class, if you haven't noticed._

Drew replied back:

_Fine. Then tell me now or I'll ask at lunch. Remember, Dawn will be there when I ask._

"Shit," Ash thought to himself. He was wondering if he should give in to Drew, or tell Dawn that Drew knows something. He nudged Dawn, who was sleeping in the same position as Ash.

Dawn fluttered her eyes open and mouthed, "What?"

Ash showed her the text Drew sent him and she gasped a little. She whispered to him, "We'll talk about it on the way to Physics."

* * *

**8:45am**

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Dawn, Ash, and Drew walked out the door together before parting ways.

"I got to History so I'm going this way," Drew said while pointing left. "I'll see you two later," Drew said with an unsettling grin on his face.

Ash and Dawn headed right towards the science building. They started to talk about their little predicament with Drew.

"What did you say to him?!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I just said that you came to my house to work on the project with us," Ash replied.

"Why was he acting like he knew something funky happened?"

"We were talking about our days yesterday and I mentioned I had a project with a partner. He asked who I was with, so I wasn't going to lie to him about that. Then he asked if we started the project and I told him we went to my house to work on it. That's when he started thinking dirty."

"Does Drew think like that all the time?" Dawn asked.

"Sometimes, but he isn't as bad as Gary though," Ash replied.

They arrived in the Physics classroom and sat down at their desks. They just hoped Drew didn't start spreading any rumors.

* * *

**8:50**

The bell started ringing, signaling the start of the next period. Drew walked in just as the bell rang and quickly searched for a seat. He saw May and she saw him, as they made eye contact with each other.

Drew started to walk over the empty seat next to May. He sat down and said to May in a teasing tone, "Sup toots," as he smirked teasingly.

May was surprised a little at Drew's comment. After a few seconds she replied back in the same tone, "Sup _pretty boy_."

Drew took this opportunity to tease her some more and said, "So you think I'm pretty, huh?"

May started to blush and she covered part of it with her bandana. "Oh shut up," she replied.

The teacher entered the classroom and addressed the class. He was on the elderly side, but he had a stern facial expression that made it seem like he doesn't fool around.

"Hello children," the teacher said.

"Hello Professor Rowan," the class responded in unison.

Professor Rowan is the Pokémon History teacher at Pallet High and has been for 25 years.

Drew muttered under his breath, "What's useful about talking about things that already happened?"

"Because cabbage head," the whole class started to laugh when Professor Rowan said this, especially May, who couldn't contain herself, "history repeats itself, so we learn it to not repeat it."

Drew felt humiliated by Professor Rowan's little name for him. He called him it yesterday on the first day of school.

* * *

***Flashback***

_Professor Rowan was taking attendance. _

"_Napoleon Black."_

"_Here"_

"_Ally Shadow"_

"_Here"_

_"Shadow Kudo"_

_"Here"_

"_May Maple"_

"_Here"_

"_Drew Rose"_

_Drew decided to try to be cool and said, "I would like to be called something else," in a confident tone._

"_Okay then, I'll call you cabbage head."_

_The whole class erupted in a hysterical laughter. May almost fell back in her chair from laughing so hard. She held her hands over her stomach and looked like she might die of laughter._

***End of flashback***

* * *

"My name's Drew by the way. Not _cabbage head_."

"I think I like cabbage head better," Professor Rowan replied back.

The class started giggling until Professor Rowan cleared his throat to silence the class. He started to talk. "So this year we will be talking learning about…."

Drew zoned out when Professor Rowan started speaking and turned to talk to May. "Hey, did you hear about Dawn and Ash?" Drew whispered.

"What about them?" May replied back.

"Ash told me they're partners in a project and they worked on it at their house, _alone_."

May gasped. "You don't think anything happened, right?"

"I don't know for sure. But when I asked Ash, he said he wouldn't tell."

"Ahem," Professor Rowan said to get May and Drew's attention, "is there something you would like to share with the class?"

"No sir," May and Drew said in unison.

"Well it seems you're more interested in whatever you're talking about than what I'm teaching, so why don't you two tell everyone what's so interesting?"

May and Drew nervously walked up to the front of the classroom. They were both sweating like crazy.

"We're not going to actually tell them the truth, right?" May whispered in Drew's ear.

"No. I'll think of something, but you have to go along with it," Drew whispered back.

"Okay," May reluctantly said.

"Well, we're waiting," Professor Rowan said impatiently.

"Well, ya see," Drew started, "May and I were talking about football season starting." Drew looked over at May as a way of saying to continue the lie.

"Yeah," May said, "I was saying how he was the kicker and he wasn't that important to the team."

The whole class burst into a roar of laughter. Professor Rowan even started to laugh a little.

Drew blushed in embarrassment and started to become flustered.

"Then, I argued that without a reliable kicker, there would be more empty possessions. It's better to come up with three points than none."

The class became silent as they realized Drew's point, until Professor Rowan broke the silence.

"Okay May and cabbage head, you can sit in your seats now."

The class broke out into a crazed riot of laughter. May had to wipe a tear from her eye she was laughing so hard.

Drew put his elbow on his desk and his hand on his cheeks and had a sourpuss on his face. "Man, this is going to be a long year," Drew muttered under his breath.

* * *

Ash, Dawn, Gary, and the rest of the class all stared with a blank and bored expression on their faces as Professor Birch droned on about gravity. Well, everyone except Clemont, who was always eager to learn about anything science related.

"And _g_ is used to represent the acceleration of anything falling on Earth, which is 9.8 meters per second squared." Professor Birch wrote that on the board expecting the whole class to jot it down in their notes. But when he turned around, he only saw Clemont jotting it down while half the class was asleep and the other half was staring blankly at him. He sighed, disappointed his class wasn't even the tiniest bit interested in the material. Then, the bell started ringing, and all the students quickly zipped up their bags, put them over their shoulders, and rushed out of the classroom.

"Wait, don't forget your mini projects are due at the end of the week!" Professor Birch exclaimed as the students exited the classroom.

* * *

**10:05**

Ash, Dawn, and Gary all exited the classroom together. Then, they walked down to the Meeting House **(Explanation of what this is in the author's note at the end of the chapter)** for Meeting for Worship. They shook hands with the Mr. Hoopes, the Head of the Religion Department, at Pallet High, and entered the Meeting House. When they entered it was complete silence. They looked for seats when they all spotted their friends in the back row. Misty was sitting next to Paul, May was sitting next to Drew, and Leaf was on the end. Everyone scootched over so Gary, Ash, and Dawn could sit, too. Gary got in first and sat next to Leaf, while Ash got in and sat next to Gary as Dawn sat next to Ash. Mr. Hoopes entered and took his seat in one of the front benches, which signaled the start of meeting. A few people stood up and voiced their thoughts, but most students either slept or played on their phones.

Soon, Ash laid his head against the wall behind him and dozed off. Dawn fell asleep too and unconsciously put her head on Ash's shoulder. Leaf peeked over Gary's shoulder and saw Ash and Dawn.

"Oooh, they look so cute like that," Leaf thought to herself, "but I shouldn't disturb them.

Leaf nudged a sleeping Gary. He fluttered his eyes and had that "What?" look on his face. Leaf subtley directed her eyes to her left, and Gary looked next to him. He saw how Ash and Dawn were positioned and a perverted smirk grew on his face. He started moving his eyebrows up and down before Leaf pulled the hair at the very back of Gary's head. Gary almost screamed, but he didn't want to break the silence. He looked at Leaf with a pissed off expression on his face. She took it lightly and lightly touched Gary's nose. Then they fell asleep, waiting for meeting to be over.

* * *

**10:40**

Mr. Hoopes stood up and shook hands with Professor Oak, the principal of Pallet High, who was sitting next to him, signaling the end of meeting. Everyone else started shaking hands with each other, as they left.

Dawn yawned and lifted her head from Ash's shoulder. Ash woke up as Dawn yawned. They both blushed a deep crimson red as soon as they realized what had just happened. They shook hands with each other and left with their friends. As they were walking out of the Meeting House, Leaf came up next to Dawn and had a sly look on her face.

"So Dawn, how did Ash's shoulder feel?" Leaf said.

Dawn blushed deeply and put her beanie over her face. "It was an accident, I swear," Dawn said as she defended herself.

"Sure it was," Leaf said unconvinced. "Well I gotta head off to class. See ya!" Leaf said as she hugged Dawn.

As all her other friends went to their classes, Dawn walked next to Ash. "So Ash, what class do you have next?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, I have a free period right now," Ash retorted.

"Oh, me too!" Dawn responded

"Awesome."

Ash and Dawn walked in silence for another minute until Dawn broke it. "Sorry about what happened in meeting," Dawn said blushing lightly and twirling her long, blue hair.

"That's fine Dawn. Plus, it kinda felt...nice. Ya know, your head on my shoulders," Ash replied.

"Oh, well I'm glad it didn't bother you."

"What are you talking about? You could never bother me."

Ash and Dawn both blushed again.

They entered the student center called Marshall, which is like a lounge for the students. There's a main floor, which is made out of wood. There's couches and chairs spread across the room, a TV on the wall, a ping pong table, and a pool table, which was covered. There's also a bookstore with a bunch of food and drinks, along with school supplies. Then there's a place where you can get grilled and fried food called Bettye's. In the basement are the student lockers and three vending machines.

Ash and Dawn entered the main floor and sat down on a big couch. They got a few chairs and couches and made a little nest for themselves.

"Well I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep," Ash said. He layed down on the nest of chairs and couches and started snoring a little.

Dawn gazed at Ash dreamily as he slept. "He's so cute when he sleeps," Dawn thought to herself. "Well I'm tired myself, so I should sleep, too." Dawn layed down next to Ash and looked at his handsome face while smiling, before she dozed off herself. Dawn uncharacteristically was drawn to Ash's body heat and unconsciously snuggled up next to him. Neither of them had any idea they were doing this, but one person did.

A short, shadowy figure peeked his head over a chair, as he looked at Ash and Dawn together. "That should be me, not that loser," the mysterious figure said to himself. He got out his phone and snapped a picture of them before walking down to the basement of Marshall.

* * *

**I'm sooooooooo sorry guys that I took a while. I put on my profile that I had a lot of big assignments due. While that may be true, those ended weeks ago. I got lazy and watched Youtube and played video games. This week is exam week for me and after this Thursday I'm done school. But I'm leaving for a service trip I'm doing with my school on June 11th. I'll be gone from the 11th to the 22th, so this is the last chapter before I leave. Also, I have my first job, summer baseball, summer reading, and college stuff to worry about so I wouldn't call it summer for me. I'll try my best to update as frequently as I can.**

**So to explain, Meeting for Worship is a Quaker thing where people gather in a Meeting House and sit in silence. But, the point is to stand up and share anything they would like with the community. I go to a Quaker school so I do this once every week (and no I'm Quaker). Look it up if you woud like a better explanation. **

**Also, the school schedule for Ash is based off mine.**

**Also, sorry to the people who submitted OCs. After I asked for OC submissions, someone pointed out to me to not ruin the story with OCs as main characters, so I only gave them cameos. **

**So, what will happen next with Ash and Dawn? Who is this mysterious person? Follow, favortie, and review to find out. Until next time, this is Halo Ash signing off. **


	5. Kickoff

**Hey guys I'm not dead. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the long wait. It's been since the beginning of June since my last update. After my service trip, I started a summer job which left me tired everyday. I also went on vacation for a week and had summer baseball, which ended a few weeks ago. But most of it was laziness because I watched so much YouTube and Netflix. This is also my longest chapter by far with over 4,400 words. **

**I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart again. I will tell you more about my summer and my future plans for this fanfic. But for now, the wait is over. (Also, italics means the announcer is talking).**

* * *

Dawn yawned and fluttered her eyes open as she checked her phone to see the time, which was 11:45. She then felt an arm around her and slowly turned her head to see Ash, who was still sound asleep.

She sighed and muttered to herself, "Why does this keep happening to me?"

She carefully lifted Ash's arm off her and sat up in the nest of couches and chairs. She saw a few students who had this free period as well talking, and eating, but the place pretty peaceful since mostly everyone was in class.

She then, out of nowhere, heard a few chuckles and immediately turned to Ash, but he was still asleep. She then kept looking around until a few voices rang out. "Having fun there?" the mysteriously girly voices said as they were giggling and on the verge of breaking out into laughter. She looked behind the pool table and saw orange hair sticking out along with the top of a hat, and that could mean only one thing.

"Misty! Leaf! I know you're there!" Dawn yelled. As expected Misty and Leaf came out from behind the pool table laughing like banshees.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?! Don't you have class?" Dawn inquired angrily.

Misty responded while still giggling, "We had a Pre-calc test and we finished early so we got to leave."

"Wait, you had a test the second day?" Dawn retorted still with anger, but also with curiosity now.

"It was just one of those tests to see what you know at first," Leaf answered nonchalantly.

"But that doesn't excuse the real question here," Leaf and Misty said with a mischievous grin on their faces.

"And what might that be?" Dawn said, even though she knew what it was.

"Oh _you_ know," Misty said, "You were cuddling with that beautiful body," she said as she pointed to a still sleeping Ash.

"Oh," Dawn said with a nervous look and a tomato red face. "I swear it's not what it looks like. There's nothing funny going on here."

"Oh Dawn, we know you love him, just admit it," Leaf said

"I do not love him," Dawn insisted, "we're just friends."

"Yeah, with benefits," Leaf said with a grin and a teasing tone.

"Oh you know nothing like that ever happened," Dawn annoyingly.

"Relax," Misty said, "we're just messing with you."

Dawn sighed and closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in annoyance. She then looked at a sleeping Ash and smiled.

"You know you need to slow things down with this guy," Misty said breaking the silence.

"What do you mean by that?" Dawn inquired.

"I mean, you've known him for only two days and you guys are cuddling. You might be giving him and other people the wrong idea. You know rumors spread fast in this school."

"I know, but it's weird. I feel this attachment to him and feel like I don't want to be away from him."

"But you guys have only known each other for two days," Leaf said.

"Yeah," Misty added, "don't you think your relationship with him is going too fast? This is something that happens in a story or fanfiction. I urge you to keep this at a more friend-to-friend level." Misty was concerned for her friend because rumors do spread quickly in this school. Dawn could easily be thought of as "easy to get with."

Dawn thought real hard and figured that Misty and Leaf were right. She sighed and said, "I'll try guys."

* * *

**Time Skip: 2 Weeks and 2 Days**

"Alright, I want the first team offense to run all the plays!" the coach demanded.

Today was Thursday and tomorrow night is the first game of the season. Pallet Town High is going to play on their home turf against Pewter High. The team has been hard at work to prepare for this game. Since the coach doesn't want to tire out players the day before the game, practice is shorter than usual and is at a lighter pace, with the players running plays to make sure they know them. The first team offense has been running play after play to make sure they are explosive right out of the gate.

Coach yelled to Ash, "Run PA Middle Ins!" Ash nodded and lined up under center.

Ash started his cadence, "Blue 17! Blue 17! Set, Hut! Hike!" The center snapped the ball to Ash and Ash faked a handoff to the running back. He dropped back three steps and scanned his receivers to see who was open. He noticed a defensive lineman who broke through the offensive line and started to scramble. Ash had natural athleticism that baffled people sometimes and Ash was a very mobile quarterback. He made the defender break his ankles with a juke-spin combo. He found Gary running across the middle and slung a bullet pass right into Gary's trustworthy hands. Gary caught the ball and secured it before being wrapped up, but not tackled, so nobody would get hurt.

"Great job Ash!" Coach yelled, "But next time try taking a hit in the pocket instead of scrambling. You might get sacked if you scramble."

"Alright Coach, I hear ya," Ash responded.

As the football team was practicing, the cheerleading team was practicing as well.

"All right girls, great job, we should be fine for the game," Dawn said. Dawn was the head cheerleader and she usually acted as the coach. Dawn watched the football team practice and kept staring at Ash. She was still amazed by his abilities as an athlete and a football player.

Dawn took Leaf and Misty's advice and slowed things down with Ash. She and he have stayed close friends, but there hasn't been any funny business. She met Ash's mother and Ash met her mother. They both seemed to get along with each other. Delia thought Dawn was so pretty and had the most amazing personality. Johanna thought Ash was suitable to be Dawn's friend, even though she had her doubts at first. Johanna most admired Ash's selflessness and praised him for it.

Through this time, Drew and May have stayed friends, but still liked to tease each other. Through this time, they have flirted a little too, and May and Drew developed feelings for each other, but both of them are unaware of each other's feelings, and both think their crush is one sided.

Gary and Leaf have become close friends as well, with Gary flirting with Leaf like he does with every other girl. Leaf hasn't developed feelings for the young Oak boy yet. Key word: yet.

Misty has become the only girl to not let Paul's dark and distant personality defeat her. She tries to talk to him, but he usually ignores her. But on occasion, he will have a conversation with her, although his side of the conversation is relatively short worded.

* * *

Soon practice for the football team was over and Dawn did what she did after every one of their practices. She waited in the Athletic Center for Ash to come out of the locker room and he drove her home. Ash walked out of the locker room and saw Dawn and caught up with her.

"Hey Dawn," Ash said as he waved.

"Sup superstar," Dawn replied as she winked at him. "So, you excited for tomorrow night?"

Ash nodded his head and smiled, "You bet I am, we're going to demolish Pewter tomorrow. And a few recruiters are coming to the game, too."

"Where from?"

"Vermilion University, the University of Cianwood, and Slateport University."

"Wow, they're coming from all over to see you."

Ash laughed a little, "Yeah who wouldn't want to see this?" Ash said as he flexed his muscles and posed.

"Okay, your ego is starting to take over," Dawn said in an annoyed tone.

Ash put his hand behind is head and sweat dropped. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Just drive me home already," Dawn said with more annoyance.

"Alright 'Miss Bossy', jeez."

* * *

It is now a half hour before game time and the football team is in the locker room all suited and preparing to run out onto the field.

"Okay boys," Coach started, "tonight's the first game, so I would like to hear from our captains a few words of encouragement. Let's start with the offensive captains, Ash and Gary."

Ash went first. "Guys, this is the very first game of the year, the one we've been training for weeks. When this game is over I want to see victory. Now, we don't know what their team is like since this is our first glimpse of them, so don't assume anything. Play as if this isn't the first game." There was a slight pause before Ash spoke again. "You're up Gary."

Gary nodded and cleared his throat, "To be honest guys, Ashy here said everything you need to hear, but I'll say something quick. When you feel like you want to give up, just remember that there are other people counting on you. Your teammates, your coach, your parents, your friends, and your fans."

"Very nice, guys. Now about our defensive and special teams captains, Paul and Drew."

Paul went first and said in an emotionless expression, "Hit them as hard as you can. Show no mercy. Don't even make them think for a minute that they have you beat."

Drew went next. "Well guys, I know I'm just the kicker and punter, and fellow my co-captains have said almost everything I wanted to say, so I'm just gonna go with the ol' 'Go get 'em' saying."

"Well, very inspiring, captains. Now let's get out there and show them what happens when you wander onto OUR TURF!" Coach boomed.

The boys huddled around and Ash chanted, "ALRIGHT BOYS, PALLET ON THREE!" Ash started to countdown, "ONE, TWO, THREE," then the whole team screamed in unison, "PALLET!"

The team then walked up to the tunnel and waited for the announcer. Meanwhile, Dawn was with the cheerleading team getting pumped up.

"Alright girls, let's dazzle the audience today. We've practiced the routines for a while now so let's do it," Dawn said in encouragement.

Misty, May, and Leaf were sitting in the stands along with a bunch of other students who were anxious for kickoff. Everyone was talking until the announcer started to speak.

_Alright Pallet High, let's make some noise for your Pallet High starters. At quarterback, number 7, let's hear it for the star, Ash Ketchum! _

Ash ran out on the field out of the tunnel and high fived his other teammates there. The crowd loved Ash and they were going crazy. The announcer called the running back before calling the next person.

_Next up we have the ladies' man himself, wide receiver, number 88, Gary Oak!_

Gary ran onto the field with swagger. He high fived his teammates and winked at some of the cheerleaders, who melted. When he got to Ash, they fist bumped each other and bumped chests. The other two starting wide receivers, the offensive lineman, and the tight end were called before the announcer got to the defense. He called the defensive line before calling the next person.

_Alright people, next up we have the ruthless and stone cold player we all know. Middle linebacker, number 51, Paul Shinji! _

Paul ran out onto the field with an emotionless expression and high fived his teammates. The announcer went through the outside linebackers, the cornerbacks, and safeties before finally getting to the last person.

_And finally, our reliable green headed kicker and punter number 3, Drew Rose!_

Drew flicked his hair as he ran out onto the field to swoon the ladies. May watched on as Drew winked at her as he ran onto the field. She blushed a little and Misty and Leaf gave her sly looks.

Then, Pewter High ran out onto the field and received boos from the crowd. The captains for each team met in the middle of the field for the coin toss. As the captains shook hands with each other, Ash shook the hand of Brock Stone, Pewter High's premier pass rusher. Ash and Brock shared glares and squeezed each other hands tighter. Since Pewter was the visitor, they got to choose heads or tails. They chose heads, but the coin landed on tails. Oddly though, Pallet chose to defer and kickoff to Pewter. Ash and Brock glared at each other one more team before returning to their respective sidelines.

Drew put the ball of the kicking tee and lined himself up. Paul was also on the kickoff team. Paul smacked his helmet to pump himself up. The crowd kept waiting in anticipation and were cheering at the top of their lungs. Drew took a deep breath and raised his arm to signal he was ready. He ran up to the ball and the crowd yell "BOOM!" as he launched it. The kick returner fielded it at the 9 yard line and ran it out to about the 32 yard line until he was stopped by a brick wall, which was actually Paul. The returner got his bell rung and slowly got up. Paul simply said to him, "Pathetic."

_And Pewter High will start on their own 32 yard line. The quarterback gets under center, single back formation, two tight ends, and two receivers in the slot. The quarterback gets the snap and hands it off to the running back. He makes a move and redirects himself before he is stopped. Gain of 4 of the play._

Pewter drove down to the Pallet 48 yard line until they were stopped on third down. Pewter punted it in the end zone, which resulted in a touchback. Finally, Ash could take the field and work his magic. He looked at the wristband full of plays and decided to run one.

Ash walked up under center and started his cadence. "Yellow 23! Yellow 23! Set! Hut!" Ash received the snap and faked a handoff to the running back. He then kept dropping back as his offensive line pulled right. Ash then dumped the ball off to his running back for the screen play.

_And Ketchum dumps it off to the running back, Dempsey. Dempsey runs behind the offensive line. He finds a hole and has a burst of speed! Oooh, he's met at the 40 yard line, but not before he gains 20 yards on the halfback screen!_

The crowd was going crazy and the cheerleaders started their chant, "Move that ball downfield. Move that ball downfield!"

_Ketchum gets in the shotgun, Dempsey to his left, no tight ends, Oak and Cruz lined up outside and Smith in the slot. Ketchum takes the snap and hands the ball off. Oooh! Ketchum keeps the ball as the d-end bites on the Read Option and Ketchum's off. Look at the amazing speed. He stiff arms a man, he breaks another tackle and he's in the open field! He's at the 30, the 20, the 15, 10, 5, TOUCHDOWN! Ash Ketchum scores for Pallet on a 60 yard touchdown run and gives them a 6-0 lead. Rose comes in for the extra point. It's up and it's good. With 9:57 on the game clock it's Pallet 7, Pewter 0. _

The rest of the half, Pallet put up video game numbers against Pewter, who only managed six points, which came on two field goals. Ash apassed for a touchdown to Gary and Paul had seven tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack. Drew also had made a 39 yard field goal and made 3 extra points.

_And at the end of the half, it's the Pallet High Charizards 24, and the Pewter High Golems 6. _

* * *

Pallet was feeling pretty confident going into the locker room. Ash had racked up 147 passing yards and one passing touchdown. He also had 95 rushing yards on five carries. Gary had 69 receiving yards and a touchdown reception. The team was fired up in the locker room and was yelling and acting like barbarians. Coach came into the locker and silenced the rambunctious players.

"Dominant half boys," he started, "We executed beautifully in all three aspects. But we haven't won yet, we need to keep up this level of play until I say to take it easy. We're going to keep applying pressure to their quarterback and we're going to keep their defense on their toes with our fast paced offense. That's all boys, let's get out there. They don't have enough badges to train us."

The both teams ran out of tunnel for the second half. Since Pewter received the ball first in the previous half, Pallet will receive the kickoff for the start of this half. Pewter kicked it off to Gary, who brought it out to the 37 yard line from the 11 yard line.

Ash got under center and called his cadence. He got the snap and dropped back three steps. He was trying for Gary underneath, but he was covered too tightly. He noticed the pocket around him collapsing and he started to scramble. But before he could get back to the line of scrimmage, he was sacked from behind. When he looked at who sacked him, it was none other than Brock. Brock grinned at him and said to Ash, "Get used to being there." Ash thought none of it than trash talk, but Brock would prove to be right.

Brock himself sacked Ash four times in the third quarter and for the first half of the fourth quarter. Ash had also only thrown one touchdown to two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The defense, fortunately, held its ground and only allowed a field goal and a touchdown. But trouble struck for Pallet.

_Pallet is ready to kick it to Pewter after that touchdown pass to Cruz from Ketchum. Rose kicks it off and it's taken from the 5 yard line. The returner finds a hole and he's off! Shinji is on his tail but he won't catch him. Touchdown Golems. _

The crowd was in shock. Pewter High had outscored Pallet 18-7 in the second half, and now they're only a touchdown for tying the game.

_It looks like they're going to go for two. And it's a QB sneak. Is he in? The refs signal that the conversion is good. So with 5:47 left in the game it's Pallet 31 and Pewter 24._

Coach was having a fit on the sideline, yelling at all his players. His face had to be a tomato by now. Ash was sitting on the bench with his helmet off thinking about his game plan. "I gotta run more running plays to burn some clock, or else we might lose."

Gary returned the ball to the 29 yard line and Ash put on his helmet and jogged onto the field. He got in the huddle and said, "Alright guys, let's burn some clock. Halfback Stretch on one. Ready? Break!"

The team broke the huddle and lined up in a single back formation with a tight end on each side of the offensive line. Ash received the snap and handed it off to Dempsey who only got 2 yards on the run. They took their time and waited until the last second before running the same play, but only to the opposite play. Dempsey only gained 3 yards and it was now 3rd &amp; 5 on Pallet's 34 yard line.

"Shit," Ash thought, "I gotta pass it now or we'll have to punt. Let's just hope my line holds."

Ash took the snap and dropped back. He had no open receivers and started to run out of the pocket, but he was stopped by Brock for only 3 yards, which wasn't enough for a first down. Drew went out to punt and boomed it 49 yards, but Pewter returned it 12 yards.

_And now with 3:27 on the clock, Pewter will start at their own at their own 26 yard line. The quarterback is under center. He snaps the ball and drops back, but he hands it off to his running back. He's stopped by Shinji for a five yard gain._

Pewter kept grinding down the field, running the ball then fooling the defense with a few play actions. Soon enough, Pewter was on the Pallet 12 yard line with 15 seconds left. The crowd was holding their breath. Misty was thinking in her head, "C'mon Paul, you can stop them, I know you can."

_The Golems are on the Pallet 12 yard line and it's 2__nd__ &amp; 7\. The QB takes the snap he drops back…._

You could hear a pin drop on the field it was so silent. The crowd held their breaths while some of them prayed. Ash looked on, hoping his defense could get him outta this mess.

_He throws it across the middle, and IT'S PICKED OFF! PAUL SHINJI INTERCEPTS THE BALL AND IS BROUGHT DOWN AT THE 8 YARD LINE! AND PALLET'S GOING TO WIN THIS ONE!_

The whole crowd erupted in cheers. Misty, May, and Leaf were jumping up and down screaming at the highest pitch they could. Dawn and the cheerleaders did the same.

The offense went out onto the field for the final play. Ash took the snap and took a knee to end the game.

_And there you have it folks! The Charizards win a nail biter 31-24!_

The whole Pallet High team let out huge breaths of relief, especially Ash, who almost lost the game for them. The crowd emptied the bleachers as the all exited the stadium. The football team went to the locker room and started to change as fast as they could to avoid Coach yelling at them. But no avail, as Coach came in not as red as before.

"What was that guys?!" He bellowed. The whole locker room was silent. "We had and 18 point lead going into the second half, and you guys almost blew it! The offense was almost nonexistent in the second half, but the defense luckily held down the fort and fortunately Paul got that interception to seal the game. You guys are running 18 laps next practice, one for each point you gave up in that second half! I may reduce it if you guys run them without complaining. You are dismissed."

As soon as Coach left the room, Drew yelled out, "Well we're fucked next practice."

The rest of the team finished getting changed and was about to walk out until Gary got their attention. "Hey guys, we may have been sloppy, but a win's a win. So about we celebrate?"

One of the guys asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm so glad you asked. How about some karaoke?"

The team was silent for a minute to think about the idea until they all nodded. "Yeah I guess that's okay. Let's go!"

* * *

**Thank so much to you guys who were patient. My service trip to Costa Rica was awesome and I hope to go back after I graduate high school. Then I started a job at my school working on the grounds crew. I had to start at 7:00am but I ended at 3:30 so my hour were pretty good. But I worked outside most of the time and the sun can really make you tired so I slowly started writing this chapter. I did go on vacation to Seaside Park, NJ for a week and I'm going back August 22-29. **

**And my summer baseball team went undeafeated until the championship game, which we lost 8-6 in eight innings. But we were down 6-0 in the bottom of thr 7th and we rallied to tie it and force extras. I almost hit a walk off homerun too. Holy shit. I shit you not. We were down 6-4 with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd and I was up. I launched a pitch a good 345 feet. I missed a walk off homerun by about 10 feet. But I still got a double out of it and drove in the two runners to tie it up. **

**Also, I start school August 31, so I'm not sure about when I'm going to update. I'm going to be a senior in high school. Omg I can't believe where the time went. I know I take a while to update, but that is only because I'm a busy guy. I go to one of the toughest private schools in the state of Pennsylvania. It's almost college level work. But I will try to get as much done of Chapter 6 before I go back. I have college applications to start and summer reading which I procrastinated on so I have to Sparknotes three books now. Procrastination is one of my best qualities and I'm great at it. But I always get my work done, so don't worry about me. I may wait until my birthday, which is on my profile, to update. So about a month.**

**Also, please tell me what you thought of the football game. I was extremely excited to write it and made sure it seemed like a real football game. Leave a review and let me know how I did.**

**Well that's all for this very long author's note. I'm Halo Ash and I'llsee you guys later.**


	6. Karoake Night

**Hey! I told you I'd update around my birthday. Well to be more technical, IT IS MY BIRTHDAY! I'm 17 now, which means I can get my driver's license. New Jersey laws suck, I go to school in Pennsylvania and most of my friends who live in PA have their licenses because you only have to be 16 1/2 to get your license. Well I take my driver's test on Tuesday and I'm kinda nervous, but I'll pass. ****Somehow, I will pass. ****But my day hasn't been so great because my beloved New York Giants f*cking suck Tom Brady's deflated balls. We blew yet another 10 point lead in the fourth quarter. It's the same old shit from last week. My one birthday wish was for them to win. So you could imagine the disappointment. But enough of my blabbering, just read the chapter already.**

* * *

After about 15 minutes Gary, Ash, Paul, and Drew left the locker room together. They were all pretty excited to go to the karaoke club. Gary then got an idea. "Hey boys, how about we invite the girls to karaoke, as well."

Ash and Drew nodded their heads in approval. "That sounds great Gary," Drew said.

Paul smirked and said, "Oh please, he just wants to spend more time with Leaf."

"Hey, at least you can spend more time with Misty! You've got a thing for her," Gary replied.

Paul's face turned a light shade of pink, "Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. Let's just leave it at that."

The boys had found Dawn, Misty, Leaf, and May all talking outside the field. Gary went up to the girls and said in a swooning voice, "How would you lovely like to join the boys and me for karaoke, along with the rest of the team?"

Dawn's eyes immediately lit up after Gary spoke. She loved singing, which is why she is in the school Chorale. "You can count me in," she said enthusiastically, "what about you guys?" she asked her friends.

"I guess it could be fun," May replied.

"Sounds good to me," Misty said.

"Yeah, I just gotta ask my mom," Leaf said.

"Great then it's settled. We'll drive you girls there," Gary said.

"WE ARE?!" Ash, Drew, and Paul asked in unison.

"Yes we are because we're gentlemen," Gary responded.

The rest of the boys sighed, knowing this was one of Gary's ways to flirt with women.

* * *

The gang of eight arrived at the karaoke place where most of the football team has already arrived. Gary asked the boys, "So, how about we sing something up there?"

"I'm not going to sing, I'll just watch," Paul said.

"Party pooper," Gary said in annoyance, "How about you guys?"

"Sure," Ash and Drew said, "But which song?" Ash asked.

"Trust me, we'll all know it. It will commemorate our recent victory."

Ash went to look for Dawn before he, Gary, and Drew would go on stage. He spotted her sitting at a table with the rest of the girls and walked over. Dawn noticed him walking over and smiled and waved at him. There it was again, that smile. Ash loved her smile so much. It just put him in a good mood when she smiled.

"Hey Ash! Come join us!" Dawn screamed since it was so loud.

Ash pulled up a chair and sat down next to Dawn. "So, what did you think of the game?" he asked Dawn

"I was really impressed in the first half, but the second half was pretty abysmal," she replied, giggling at the last part of her statement.

"Yeah, that defense must've prepared for me well at halftime," he said while scratching the back of his head.

"Good thing Paul was there or you would've been in big trouble," Misty said, joining the conversation.

"Well, he saved the game, but we still have to run 18 laps on Monday."

"That sucks, sorry to hear that," Dawn said in concern.

Ash then remembered why he came to see Dawn in the first place, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Gary, Drew, and I are going to sing soon."

"What about Paul?" Misty asked.

"Oh he's just a downer. He's going to watch."

"Well where is he? Tell him to sit with us," Misty said.

"I don't know, find him yourself."

As if right on cue, Gary, Paul, and Drew all walked over to the table. "Speak of the devil," Ash said.

"Ashy, we're going to be on soon, ya ready?" Gary said.

"Yeah. See ya Dawn," he said as he hugged her.

As Ash walked off Dawn sighed. "What's up with the sigh?" May asked.

"I just love his warm hugs and I don't like when we release our embrace," Dawn sighed.

"Oh you're definitely falling for him," Leaf teased.

Dawn was flustered by this and replied, "No, I just think his hugs are warm, and his smile his cute, and he's so muscular…" Dawn could go on and on.

"Yeah right. You definitely have a crush on him. Just admit it already," May said with a skeptical look on her face.

"Okay maybe a little," Dawn said innocently.

"Shut up guys the boys are about to go on," Leaf said.

Ash, Drew, and Gary walked onto the stage with microphones in their hands and Gary went up to the DJ to select a song. "You still haven't told us what we're singing," Ash said.

"Just relax, you'll find out in a second," Gary said.

Trumpets started playing all of a sudden and the crowd went wild when they recognized the song. Ash and Drew smiled in excitement, knowing what song was coming. (Gary is in italics, Drew is normal, and Ash is bold).

_T.I.P  
Hey Jamie, JT_  
(Ooh)  
_It 'bout time to get back hot again man,  
You know I'm fresh out this thing  
Lets go_

You know you looking at a winner (winner, winner)  
_I'm so up there and so out there  
Your so not here  
You see we so up there and so out there  
(Let me get it right here first)_

I'm wakin'  
Up in the morning  
Hustlin' to the stage and fuckin' performin'  
Bustlin' in through the hate and bustin' the door in  
Lately nothin' misses I must have been scorin'  
Speakin' of the misses  
I'm watchin' 'em pourin'  
Just like a drink that I'm enjoyin'  
And don't mean bottles you welcome to join in  
Just look at me soarin'  
Feelin' like Jordan

(Aah ah) hold up I ain't finished yet  
On top but you just don't get it yet  
I don't get cut  
I make 'em cut the check  
Can't hear me in the stands  
Lemme say it again  
(aah ah) you ain't heard I'm the shit  
On top but you just don't get it yet  
I never got cut but I make 'em cut the check  
So hate on but guess what

I feel like I can't miss  
I know they want me to fall  
But ain't nothin' bigger than this  
So just pass me the ball  
You know you looking at a winner, winner, winner  
I can't miss, can't lose, can't miss  
You know you looking at winner, winner, winner  
'cause I'm a winner  
Yeah I'm a winner

They were getting the crowd as pumped as they were. May was extremely impressed with Drew's singing voice. It sounded so perfect to her. Leaf was also impressed Gary could rap that fast. But now it was Ash's turn.

**I'm stepping out in the evenin'  
Keep women screamin'  
He gotta be cheatin'  
But I'm so breezy  
I make this look easy  
No fakin' I'm seasoned  
You gotta believe me  
I went from TV's  
To screens to DVD's  
To CD's,  
To MP3's overseas  
I got no time to talkin' its borin'  
Just look at me soarin'  
Feelin' like Jordan**

**(aah ah) hold up I ain't finished yet  
On top but you just don't get it yet  
I never got cut  
I make 'em cut the check  
Can't hear me in the stands  
Lemme say it again  
(aah ah) you ain't heard I'm the shit  
On top but you just don't get it yet  
I never got cut but I make 'em cut the check  
So hate on but guess what**

**I feel like I can't miss  
I know they want me to fall  
But ain't nothin' bigger than this  
So just pass me the ball  
You know you looking at a winner, winner, winner  
I can't miss, can't lose, can't miss  
You know you looking at winner, winner, winner  
'cause I'm a winner  
Yeah I'm a winner**

Then there was a transition to the rap.

_That's right,__  
__You see the Porsche Panamera__  
__Got em in hysteria__  
__The turbo super fast and that McLaren even scarier__  
__Hear me turning corners burning rubber in your area__  
__I'm hard to follow once I pop the clutch and hit the throttle__  
__I'm recession proof__  
__I don't run the money, money run to me__  
__In this economy guess I'm considered an anomaly__  
__Bugatti's, Maserati, new Ferrari's I've got one of each__  
__My future bright tight like picture guy in front of me__  
__Turn pain to progression in every studio session__  
__Passion into perfection to failure I'm an exception__  
__Fuck, if you wanna lose, to battle me is a blessin'__  
__You couldn't die in the hands of a better man__  
__I ran from the bottom to the best no auto-tune__  
__Been in the lead, say you seen King follow whom?__  
__Never that, I'm the freshest go ask whoever that__  
__King back money long as an old Cadillac__  
__Ha ha_

The crowd grew even more rambunctious when Gary flawlessly executed the rap. Leaf was especially impressed. The chorus then began one last time:

**I feel like I can't miss****  
****I know they want me to fall****  
****But ain't nothin' bigger than this****  
****So just pass me the ball** (_its the King bitch!)_  
**You know you looking at a winner, winner, winner****  
****I can't miss, can't lose, can't miss****  
****You know you looking at winner, winner, winner****  
****'cause I'm a winner****  
****Yeah I'm a winner**

_Hey man you thought a little vacation could hold me back homeboy,__  
__Man I'm back man__  
__Brighter than ever, you understand that,__  
__If you didn't like me then (ha) you gon' hate me now nigga__  
_

The crowd erupted in cheers at the guys amazing performance. They took a bow and returned to the girl's table. They arrived to the table and the girls congratulated them.

"That was amazing guys," Dawn said in awe.

"Yeah," Leaf added, "I still can't believe Gary rapped his lines flawlessly. You're like some kind of rap God."

"Woah woah woah, I'm not Eminem guys, I just know the lyrics by heart," Gary said modestly, which is way out of character for him.

"But Drew's voice is so angelic," May said dreamily.

"I know," Drew said as he brushed his hair out of his face.

"You could be modest about it," May said annoyingly.

"Hey guys," Dawn said in annoyance, "Ash did a good job too, why aren't you congratulating him?" Dawn felt a little hurt that no one acknowledged Ash. She thought he did the best out of all of them.

Ash waved his hands in front of him and said, "Hey Dawn, I don't care if they say anything. I wasn't that good anyway."

"You're too modest Ash. You were amazing out there. Your voice wasn't too girly like Drew's-"

"Hey!" Drew said in offense.

"You didn't sound like a thug like Gary," Dawn continued.

"So what?" Gary responded. He may have taken that more as a compliment though.

"It was like a perfect mix of the two," Dawn finally ended.

There was an awkward pause before Paul spoke up. Everyone jumped a little because they almost forgot he was there. "So, what now?"

Dawn spoke as if the answer were obvious, "Someone does another song of course! So who's next?"

"Well you suggested another song, so you go next," Misty responded.

"Hey, I don't want to do it alone. Ash can you do a song with me? Pleeeaaase!" Dawn was jumping up and down like a five year old and was embarrassing herself as people looked at her weirdly.

After a while, Ash gave in and said, "Fine! I'll do a song with you. Which one did you have in mind?"

Dawn smirked and said, "Do you know the words to…" she whispered it in his ear.

"Yeah I love that song," Ash said.

"Great, let's go," Dawn grabbed Ash's hand and pulled him as she made her way through the crowd. They went up to the DJ and requested their song. The DJ gave mics to Ash and Dawn and they took their places on stage (Dawn is in italics and Ash is bold).

_Am I throwing you off?_  
**Nope!**  
_Didn't think so_  
**How ya doing young lady****  
****The feeling that you gave me really drives me crazy****  
****You don't have a player on your trunk****  
****I was at a loss of words****  
****First time that we spoke**

_If you're looking for a girl that'll treat you right__  
__If you looking for her in the day time in the light_  
**You might be the type if I play my cards right****  
****I'll find out by the end of the night**

_You expect me to just let you hit it  
But will you still respect me if you get it?_

**All I can do is try, give me one chance  
What's the problem? I don't see no ring on your hand**

While they were singing, Ash was acting as if he was flirting with Dawn and Dawn was pretending to be skeptical and flirtatious as may have not been for real, but they were getting a good reaction from the crowd.

**I'll be the first to admit it, I'm curious about you, you seem so loose**

_You wanna get in my world, get lost in it  
Boy I'm tired of running, let's walk for a minute_

**Promiscuous girl  
Wherever you are  
I'm all alone  
And it's you that I want**  
_Promiscuous boy  
You already know  
That I'm all yours  
What you waiting for?  
_**Promiscuous girl  
You're teasing me  
You know what I want  
And I got what you need**  
_Promiscuous boy  
Let's get to the point  
'Cause we're on a roll  
You ready?_

_Roses are red  
Some diamonds are blue  
Chivalry is dead  
But you're still kind a cute_

**Hey! I can't keep my mind off you  
Where you at, do you mind if I come too**

_I'm out of this world come with me to my planet  
Get you on my level do you think that you can handle it?_

**They call me Thomas  
Last name Crown  
Recognize game  
I'm a lay mine's down**

_I'm a big girl I can handle myself  
But if I get lonely I may need your help  
Pay attention to me I don't talk for my health_  
**I want you on my team**  
_So does everybody else._

**Baby we can keep it on the low  
Let your guard down ain't nobody gotta know  
If you with it girl I know a place we can go**

_What kind of girl do you take me for?_

**Promiscuous girl  
Wherever you are  
I'm all alone  
And it's you that I want**  
_Promiscuous boy  
You already know  
That I'm all yours  
What you waiting for?  
_**Promiscuous girl  
You're teasing me  
You know what I want  
And I got what you need**  
_Promiscuous boy  
Let's get to the point  
'Cause we're on a roll  
You ready?_

**Don't be mad, don't get mean  
Don't get mad, don't be mean**

_Hey! Don't be mad, don't get mean  
Don't get mad, don't be mean_

**Wait! I don't mean no harm  
I can see you with my t-shirt on**

_I can see you with nothing on  
Feeling on me before you bring that on_

**Bring that on?**  
_You know what I mean_

**Girl, I'm a freak you shouldn't say those things**

_I'm only trying to get inside of your brain  
To see if you can work me the way you say_

**It's okay, it's alright  
I got something that you gon' like**

_Is it the truth, are you talking trash?  
Is your game M.V.P. like Steve Nash?_

**Promiscuous girl  
Wherever you are  
I'm all alone  
And it's you that I want**  
_Promiscuous boy  
I'm calling your name  
But you're driving me crazy  
The way you're making me wait_  
**Promiscuous girl  
You're teasing me  
You know what I want  
And I got what you need**  
_Promiscuous boy  
We're one in the same  
So we don't gotta play games no more_

The song ended and the crowd once more erupted in cheers. The football team was chanting Ash's name and whistling for his "performance" with Dawn.

Dawn and Ash bowed and returned to their seats. When they returned Gary smirked at Ash and said, "Ashy that was some performance out there. It looked as if it wasn't just the song, if ya catch my drift."

Ash lightly hit Gary on the shoulder and said, "Oh shut up you perv."

"I gotta say though," Drew added, "you two did look pretty serious up there. Are you sure it wasn't for the crowd?"

Ash and Dawn were blushing like crazy and they knew what they were doing. Everyone started to laugh when they knew they had beaten those Ash and Dawn.

"So who's next?" May asked.

"I know," Leaf said, "How about Misty and Paul do a song!"

Misty started to madly blush and she glanced at Paul who seemed to not enjoy the idea.

"Ugh, I told you I'm not singing," Paul refused.

"Oh don't be such a party pooper," Misty said as she pulled him out of his seat and to the DJ booth.

"Leaf," Ash said, "that was so hilariously evil of you." Everyone laughed their asses off at Ash's comment.

Misty requested the song she wanted and told Paul, who luckily knew the words to that song. The music started to play and Paul started to sing (Misty is in italics, Paul is bold):

**Gyeah, Rihanna  
Good Girl Gone Bad  
Take three, action**

**No clouds in my storms  
Let it rain, I hydroplane into fame  
Comin' down like the Dow Jones  
When the clouds come, we gone**

**We Roc-A-Fellas  
We fly higher than weather  
And she flies it better**

**You know me, in anticipation for precipitation  
Stack chips for the rainy day  
Jay, Rain Man is back with Little Miss Sunshine  
Rihanna, where you at?**

_You had my heart, and we'll never be worlds apart  
Maybe in magazines, but you'll still be my star  
Baby 'cause in the dark, you can't see shiny cars  
And that's when you need me there  
With you, I'll always share_

_Because when the sun shines, we'll shine together  
Told you I'll be here forever  
Said I'll always be your friend  
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end_

_Now that it's raining more than ever  
Know that we'll still have each other  
You can stand under my umbrella  
You can stand under my umbrella_

_(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh eh,eh eh)_

_These fancy things will never come in between  
You're part of my entity, here for infinity  
When the war has took its part  
When the world has dealt its cards  
If the hand is hard, together we'll mend your heart_

_Because when the sun shines, we'll shine together  
Told you I'll be here forever  
Said I'll always be your friend  
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end_

_Now that it's raining more than ever  
Know that we'll still have each other  
You can stand under my umbrella  
You can stand under my umbrella_

_(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh eh,eh eh)_

_You can run into my arms  
It's okay, don't be alarmed, come in to me  
There's no distance in between our love  
So go on and let the rain pour  
I'll be all you need and more_

_Because when the sun shines, we'll shine together  
Told you I'll be here forever  
Said I'll always be your friend  
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end_

_Now that it's raining more than ever  
Know that we'll still have each other  
You can stand under my umbrella  
You can stand under my umbrella_

_(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella, eh eh eh eh,eh eh)_

_It's raining, raining  
Ooh baby, it's raining, raining  
Baby, come in to me  
Come in to me_

_It's raining, raining  
Ooh baby, it's raining, raining  
You can always come here to me  
Come in to me_

_It's pouring rain, it's pouring rain  
Come in to me, come in to me  
It's pouring rain, it's pouring rain  
Come in to me, come in to me_

The crowd erupted once again and applauded Misty and Paul. They both bowed and returned to their seats. When they got back Ash said, "Now that wasn't so bad Paul, now was it?"

"Hmph, if it was alright I guess," Paul said.

"You know you had fun," Misty said while poking him playfully.

"Whatever, fine I had fun," Paul sighed.

The rest of the boys were in shock. "Misty," Gary said, "that's the first time a girl's gotten him to say that."

"Why are you so shocked though?" Misty asked. She was still confused why the guys were in shock. So what? Paul was a good guy. Any girl would like him.

"Because," Drew said still in shock, "girls usually are intimidated by Paul."

"Well I know under that cold shell, he's a really sweet guy," she said adoringly as she hugged him. Paul blushed a little as Misty hugged him and received so perverted looks from the guys. He gave them that death stare of his and they immediately stopped.

The gang stayed for a few more songs and then decided it was late and left. Paul drove Misty home, Gary drove Leaf home, Drew drove May home, and Ash drove Dawn home.

* * *

Ash and Dawn talked the whole ride about their night, including their performance. It was silent after that, but not an awkward one.

Ash pulled up to Dawn's house around 11:30. No one moved or talked for a bit before Dawn spoke. "So….goodnight then, Ash."

"Night."

"Thanks for the ride and for a great time."

"No problem. I wouldn't have a good time if you didn't."

They hugged goodbye, but this one was longer than usual. This one was more intimate and longer.

Dawn was enjoying the comfort and protection of Ash's big, muscular body, resting her head on his broad shoulders, and his warm breath against her back.

Ash loved Dawn's silky smooth skin and her petite figure. He felt at peace when he hugged her, and wanted to stay like that forever. Unfortunately, they knew the night had to come to an end and they reluctantly separated from their embrace.

Dawn got out of the car and walked to her front door. Ash watched her go in, and drove off.

* * *

As Dawn walked in her front door, she had a gloomy expression. She had so much fun, but she wanted to spend more time with Ash. The more she was with the young Pallet boy, the more she got a warm feeling in her heart. She would get Beautiflies in her stomach, her heart rate would increase, and she would sweat just at the thought of him. Was she falling for the quarterback? She hadn't had the answer.

As she walked in, Johanna was sitting on the couch with the lights off, but Dawn didn't notice her; she was too busy dwelling on Ash. But Johanna did notice Dawn's gloomy expression and was worried something awful had happened.

"Sweetie, what's with the long face?" Johanna asked.

Dawn gasped and jumped at the surprise of her mother's voice. "How long have you been there?" Dawn asked still catching her breath.

"Long enough to know something's wrong. What's gotcha down, sweetie?"

"Should I tell her?" Dawn thought to herself. "I guess so," she decided. "Well I had a lot fun at karaoke tonight, but when Ash dropped me off, I didn't want to leave."

"Hmmm. How do you feel around Ash?"

"Well I love to be around him. He's funny, strong, handsome, and his eyes are gorgeous…"

While Dawn continued rambling about Ash, Johanna was smiling on the inside. "I can't believe my Dawn is starting to become a women," she thought to herself.

"Dawn, I don't mean to interrupt, but let me ask you an important question. Do you love Ash?"

* * *

**Mwahahaha! I'm so evil to leave you with that ending. But it's my birthday so I can do whatever I want. It's also my story, sooo yeah. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I had finished most of it at the end of August when I was on vacation, but I decided to finish the rest later. Man time went by fast. I may be a whole year older now, but that won't change my love for Pokemon. **

**Oh and I recently started rewatching Teen Titans (the original one) from the first episode Friday night, and now I'm on Episode 25. You could say I spend too much time on my computer, I say I haven't watched enough Teen Titans. I forget how the series ended, so no one spoil it for me. I'm also hyped for the new season of the Big Bang Theory starting tomorrow night. I can;t wait to see Leonard and Penny get married. And that cliffhanger with Sheldon left me screaming, "OH MY F*UCKING GOD. HOLY JESUS CHRISTMAS." So I was shocked, if you can't tell.**

**Well that's all for this chapter of I'll Be There With You. Dont't forget to follow, favorite, and review. I'm Halo Ash and I hope you all have a wonderul day (cuz I know I am).**


	7. The Love Hangover

**Hey everyone it's been a long time *dodges tomato* Yeah I know I've been absent for a while, about 7 months to be exact. I'm so sorry I took so long but I have a good reason:**

**I got caught up in school, YouTube, and lots of other things that I'll explain in the author's note at the end. I also procrastinated...a lot. Hey it happens to everyone and I'm just glad to be on spring break so I have some free time. Man so much has happened. Well I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. **

**On with the fic!**

* * *

Dawn was a little caught off guard by her mom's question. "W-what?"

Johanna sighed with a smile on her face as she knew Dawn would react this way. "Do. You. Love. Ash?" she said more clearly.

A crimson red started to creep up on Dawn's cheeks as she thought about the question. "Do I love Ash?" she thought to herself. I mean there's no question that the boy has a special place in her heart, but _love_ him? She had a small crush on him, but she didn't know if she loved him. After a lot of thinking she finally answered her mom, "Well…I'm not sure how love is supposed to feel. Tell me what you felt when you were in love with dad."

Johanna nodded her head and said, "Gladly." Johanna thought for a bit before she started. "Well when I first met your father, we were both in middle school. At first we didn't get along. He would tease me, he and his friends would prank me and I hated it. Little did I know that he had his reasons for the way he used to treat me. When we were freshman in high school, a food fight broke out in the cafeteria one day. There was food flying everywhere and I didn't want to get involved at all. Then, your father grabbed my hand and shielded me against any projectiles, and we took cover behind a toppled lunch table." Dawn noticed the smile on her mom's face as she recalled the incident, like she cherished those kinds of memories. "Then," Johanna continued, "I asked him why he had taken me like that and that I thought he hated me. He responded by saying that he never hated me. He actually admitted he had a crush on me since they first met, and that he always got nervous around me and didn't know how to deal with it."

"Hold up," Dawn interrupted, "he teased you because he had a crush on you? That's kinda messed up."

Johanna chuckled at Dawn's reaction. "Yes I know it seems that way," Johanna said, "but I found it cute. So I gave him a peck on the cheek and said that we can talk more about this over dinner. In time, I fell in love with him. I knew I was in love with him because I would always love to be with him, my stomach twisted into a knot every time I was around him, but most importantly…he made me happy."

Dawn sat there thinking about her mom's feelings when she was in love and thought to herself, "Do I love being with him? Yep. Does my stomach twist in a knot when I'm with him? Yep. Does he make me happy? Yep." Dawn had finally come to a conclusion.

"Yes," she said out of context.

"Yes what?" her mother replied.

"Yes, I love Ash."

Johanna was beaming inside, but on the outside stayed relatively calm. She said to Dawn, "Well my work here is done."

Dawn smiled and said in the most sincere tone, "Thanks mom, I would've never figured this out without you."

"That's my duty as a mother."

Dawn rolled her eyes and headed up stairs to go to bed. As she laid in her bed, she found it weird to say that she loved Ash. She had to repeatedly say it in her head to get used to it. But now she was faced with the challenge of confessing her love to Ash. She also should keep her feelings secret from her friends for now, but she was sure they already sensed that she had a thing for the raven haired boy. Soon she slowly slipped into a deep slumber, with warm thoughts of Ash floating around in her head.

* * *

**6:30am**

Dawn was rudely awoken by her alarm clock buzzing. She groaned as she turned her alarm off and sat up on her bed with her hair all frizzy. She then remembered it was Saturday and abruptly laid down to get more sleep.

**9:30am**

Dawn awoke once again, this time a little more refreshed than and not as grumpy as earlier. She trudged down the stairs, making a subtle thump after each step. As she carried herself to the kitchen, she found a note from her mom on the table:

_Dear Dawn,_

_Your grandparents needed my assistance and I didn't think you needed to come. I'll be back tomorrow morning. In the meantime, the house is yours for the day. I made you breakfast and covered it, and left $50 just in case. _

_Love,_

_Mom_

The house to herself? For a whole day? Dawn thought of the possibilities. The first thing that popped into her mind was inviting Ash over and maybe confess her love and get it off her chest, but she immediately shook those thoughts and decided to let it boil over the weekend and if she still loved Ash by Monday, then she would try to muster up some courage to tell the boy how she felt.

As Dawn snapped out of her thoughts, she looked at the table to find a plate covered in aluminum foil and 50 bucks in the middle of the table. She sat down at the table and uncovered her platter to find scrambled eggs, rye toast with butter, and her favorite bacon. She always dreamed of building a palace made entirely out of bacon ever since she was a little girl. She ate her breakfast and headed to the couch to see what was on. As she flipped through the channels, she felt her phone vibrate in her pajama pants' pocket. She slid her phone out of her pocket and saw a text from Leaf:

_Hey girl u wanna go to the mall today? :)_

Dawn thought for a moment. She had nothing better to do, so she thought it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

_Sure ;)_

It didn't take long for Leaf to text back:

_Ok great! Meet out in front of the mall at 11:30. Also, Misty and May are coming too. _

Dawn smiled at the thought of a girls' day out, it would probably help her think about something else other than Ash. She eagerly went upstairs to begin getting ready for today. She usually was fast getting ready, but on weekends she sometimes would let the hot and steamy water hit against her for several periods of five or so minutes. After her relaxing shower, she wrapped a towel around her head and had one covering from her chest to her upper thigh area. She spent what seemed like forever picking out an outfit, but eventually picked out daisy yellow capri pants, a sleeveless blue and white striped crop top with a small white jacket to cover her shoulders, and a pair of Converse sneakers. She spent a while on her hair, which always gave her a hard time in the morning, and by the time she had put on her makeup it was 11:00.

"Shit I gotta go," Dawn said to no one in particular, as she rushed down the steps, grabbed her car keys, and drove off towards the mall.

* * *

A certain raven haired boy awoke groggily to the sound of his phone ringing on his nightstand. He blindly groped for his phone until he felt it in his hand and answered it, not even bothering to look who was calling.

"Hello," he said as if he was still half asleep (well he actually was).

"Sup Ashy boy," Gary answered in a little more upbeat tone.

"Dude it's…" Ash looked over at his clock which read 9:00am, "…9:00 in the morning. Why are you calling at this ungodly hour?"

"Well," Gary started, "9:00 isn't that ungodly," Gary said while also chuckling a bit. "Anyway, you up for hanging out at the mall today. Ya know…you, me, Paul, and Drew?"

Ash was thinking about seeing if Dawn wanted to hang out today, but I guess time with the guys would be fine. "Yeah sure, why not," Ash replied as a statement more than a question.

"Great, meet at the front entrance at 11:30."

"Aight, see ya then," Ash said as he ended the call. He didn't take that long to shower and get ready, so he decided to loaf around a little.

* * *

Dawn arrived at the mall parking lot and luckily, since it was still a little early, there were a few parking spaces open. Once she locked her car, she headed over to the entrance area where she found Leaf and Misty chatting with each other. They both noticed her and waved, and she waved back.

"Hey girls!" Dawn exclaimed.

Leaf and Misty responded back, but Dawn noticed someone was missing. "Hey where's May?"

Just on cue, May walked up right behind them, "Sup girls," she greeted nonchalantly.

"So what are we going to do?" Misty asked.

"I'm so glad you asked that," Leaf said, "because we're going to check out that new handbag store that opened last week."

The four of them got real interested and strolled over to the store.

* * *

Ash, Gary, Drew, and Paul were all hanging out around the lounging area of the mall, complete with a few chairs and a couch. Ash and Paul were sitting on the couch together, while Drew and Gary were each sitting in a chair across from them.

"So how'd you guys like karaoke last night?" Gary asked in a casual tone.

"I think Ash had the best time," Drew responded with a cheeky grin glanced towards Ash. Gary, Paul, and Drew seemed to get a good laugh out of this, but Ash was a little annoyed.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you and Dawn were hittin' it off pretty well. I think you got a thing for her." Drew smirked and got Gary to join in on the fun.

"So Ashy, how was the drive home with her" Gary asked in a seductive yet playful tone.

"Ah shut the fuck up," ash said as he blushed a light pink, remembering his intimate hug with Dawn last night.

"Ahhhhh he's blushing, something must've happened," Drew exclaimed laughing.

"Maybe something did, maybe something didn't," Ash responded ignorantly, although he had just realized that he basically gave it away at this point. Ash wanted to get the spotlight off him so he said, "Fine maybe something did happen-"

"Ha I knew it!" Drew screamed, causing other people to stare at them.

"But you guys have to tell me what happened while driving home your ladies last night. Even you, Paul."

Paul had that pissed off expression as usual in this kind of situation. "Fine," he grumbled.

"Alright Drew you start can start since you started this whole thing."

"Fine I got nothin' to hide. May and I had a nice conversation about the game and karaoke on the way home. I tried to talk smooth, but she played it off as if it was nothing." The whole gang was silent until Drew finished, "but she did give me a little wink as she said goodnight." The rest of the boys said in unison, "Ayyyyyy!"

"Paul you're next," Drew said.

Paul sighed and said, "Alright if you guy will stop this nonsense. Misty kept trying to talk to me, which was a little annoying because she was asking so many questions. I answered some of them, dropped her off at her place, and politely said goodnight." Paul gasped as if he just explained something for the millionth time.

All the guys were silent until Gary said, "You know Paul I think Misty's got the hots for you."

Paul was a little shocked by this and answered back in what seemed like offense, "What makes you say that?"

"Well," Gary started, "she really wanted you to sing with her last night, and I see how she looks at you. It's almost a look of lust." The group, excluding Paul, started cracking up.

"Whatever," Paul mumbled. "How 'bout you hot shot?" Paul asked pointing at Gary.

Gary had a confident look on his face as he started. "Well Leaf was practically falling for me. She couldn't resist me." The rest of the group had a dubious look on their faces, which made Gary confess. "Fine, I tried to woo her, but she was playing hard to get. I have a feeling she low-key has a thing for me though," Gary finished while smirking. The rest of the group thought it was more convincing, but was still skeptical of the last part.

"Alright boys," Gary started, "the moment we've all been waiting for….how did it go with Dawn, Ash?" All the guys focused their attention on the raven haired boy and began giving him seductive grins to try to get him to spill the beans.

Ash gulped a little, trying to piece together his thoughts and express them so the guys wouldn't be suspicious. "Well," Ash said nervously, "we talked about the game and she commented on how I almost lost the game for us, and that Paul basically saved all our asses." Paul did a half smile at that comment, because he knew it was true. "Then," Ash continued, "we joked around about karaoke, I dropped her off at her place, and we kinda hugged."

Gary and Drew exploded at that last remark and pumped their fists in the air. "I fucking knew it!" Drew screamed.

"Shut up you're drawing attention to us," Ash said in a whisper.

Drew grew quiet but still had a smile on his face, "So what do you mean by 'kinda hugged'? Did you hug or not?"

"Yeah bu-"

"For how long?" Drew asked enthusiastically interrupting Ash.

"Like 45 seconds or something like that."

Gary and Drew were trying to contain their laughter, while Paul was chuckling louder than usual.

Ash was so embarrassed and annoyed, until he felt someone leaning on his head.

* * *

"Those purses were so cute!" Leaf said as she Dawn, May, and Misty walked out of the handbag store.

"So what do we do now?" Dawn asked.

May's stomach grumbled and the rest of the group laughed. "Well I guess it's on to the food court," Misty said answering Dawn's question. Just as they were walking there they all heard someone scream, "I fucking knew it!" They all tried to find the source of the exclamation and found the Paul, Gary, Ash, and Drew sitting together. Ash seemed kinda embarrassed while Gary, Paul, and Drew were laughing their asses off.

"Hey look!" Dawn said excitingly. "It's the guys."

"I wonder what all that commotion is about," Misty asked.

As they walked over they heard Drew ask "For how long?" and Ash responding "Like 45 seconds or something like that." Then the rest of the boys, excluding Ash, erupted in laughter. The girls approached the guys without neither of them noticing them. Dawn rested her arm on Ash's head and interrupted them saying in a suspicious yet playful; tone, "What was 45 seconds?" All they guys eyes grew wide, and there was an awkward silence for about five seconds until Paul, Drew, and Gary started laughing even harder.

"What's so funny?" Dawn asked annoyingly.

Gary looked like he was about to say something, but Ash gave him a shut-the-hell-up look and he refrained from speaking. "Oh it's nothing," Ash said sheepishly. Dawn didn't buy it, but she decided to let it slide.

"So you what brings you guys here?" May asked.

"Just hanging out and talking about yesterday," Drew answered while laughing at the same time.

"What about yesterday?" Leaf asked curiously.

"Oh just about how Dawn and Ash performed last night," Drew said in response.

Dawn started blushing and tried to hide her face behind her hair. The rest of the group, excluding Ash, started laughing, while Ash pulled his cap down over his face to hide his blush.

"Sounds interesting," May said while still trying to calm down. "How about we all talk about it over lunch?"

"Sounds good," Gary answered and the eight of them headed over to the food court.

Ash and Dawn were falling behind the group as they were having a nice conversation with each other.

"So you enjoyed last night?" Ash asked Dawn.

"Yeah, except for the part when the night had to end." Ash started laughing a bit, which made Dawn's stomach twist in a knot. Her love for this boy was becoming a burden, even though she had only discovered it less than 15 hours ago. She had to confess soon, but now wasn't the right time. She wanted to be alone with him when she told him.

Ash noticed the troubled expression Dawn had and became concerned, "You okay Dawn?"

Ash's voice snapped Dawn right out of her thoughts she needed to stop worrying about this, although it was kind of hard when Ash was right here. "Yeah, no need to worry," Dawn responded nervously.

"That's when I worry the most," Ash playfully responded. He and Dawn both started laughing and realized how far they were behind the group, so they ran to catch up with them.

* * *

Trailing the gang was a boy a bit taller than Dawn and the same age as her. He had a grimace on his face when he saw Ash and Dawn laughing. "Yeah you keep laughing," the boy said in a dark tone, "you won't be when she's gone."

* * *

**Okay well thank you for everyone who has been patient during my hiatus. I'm so sorry about the long wait, and pretty much a filler chapter, but the there will be more action in the next chapter, so I left you on a cliffhanger. What can I say I like being devious at times *laughs evilly* **

**Anyway I have so many things to share with you guys. I did get my driver's license, and about a month later I got my car. It's a 2005 Jeep Cherokee. It runs pretty smooth, but it's such a gas guzzler, I have to get gas like every week. **

**During my winter break, I decided to explore Avatar: The Last Airbender because all my friends kept raving about how good it was. I watched the first three episodes to see how good it was and I instantly fell in love with it. I binge watched the whole series in about five days. I had to have more of Avatar, so I read all the comics, then watched all of Legend of Korra in about a week. I am completely in love with this series and am a self proclaimed Avatard. I can't get enough of it. I don't know what I was missing. Btw, I am a Kataanger so I went absolutely nuts at the ending. I was sad that the series was over, but I was so goddamn happy Kataang was canon. As a Pokemon fan, it's nice to see your OTP actually become canon. Korra was great too, and in my mind on the same level as ATLA, but it gets so much hate and idk why. I loved Korra's character and the rest of the crew, and it hit me in feels the feels when characters from ATLA were mentioned or appeared. I could go on and on about this but I don't wanna type that much (and I'm sure you guys are getting tired of this).**

**I got responses from 5 of the 6 colleges I applied to. I got into Seton Hall University, Monmouth University, and University of Delaware, with scholarships from the first two. I got wait-listed by Miami University and UConn, but decided not to wait for their responses. I still need to hear back from Lehigh University, then I can make a decision. **

**I got a new phone, an iPhone 6s Plus to be exact. I didn't expect it, my dad just called me and asked if I wanted a new phone and I said yes. i had a 4s before so the difference in size made it weird to hold my new phone for a while.**

**Also, I'm going to be a third term senior! I finished my last exams in high school, since seniors don't take Final Exams. I'm so pumped that I'm almost done high school, but sad at the same time because I've created so many relationships with so many different people and I'm gonna miss them. I probably gonna cry at graduation, but I don't care. I'm on the stretch people.**

**Well that's it for this very extensive author's note. Again I apologize for the long hiatus and want to thank everyone who hasn't given up on this story. If you wanna chat about something or find I made a grammar mistake, don't be shy to send me a PM, especially if you wanna talk about Avatar because I could go on and on about that. This is Halo Ash signing out, peace!**


	8. Update

Hey readers,

I'm posting this because I haven't updated in a really long time. I feel really bad, so I wanted to let you guys know I'm not dead. I'm also not giving up on this story. I've just been really stressed and busy lately.

See, I am in the first semester of my freshman year of college, and it's been a time managing nightmare, considering my ADHD. I've been getting little to no sleep since I came here because I'm pitted in this endless cycle. I'm currently seeking help so I don't lose my scholarship, but I need to dig myself out of a deep hole. I've been staying up late, which has caused me to sleep through classes and two exams. I've missed classes in the middle of the day because I uncontrollably fall asleep then. This all causes me to get behind on work, late with assignments, causing me to stay up late, which I'm trying not to do. As of the night I'm typing this, I slept through a calculus exam and my religion class. I'm trying to finish a paper for a business class that is already late that I put aside because I keep procrastinating. I've come close to crying thinking of losing my scholarship, which means I'll probably have to go to community college because this scholarship is the only thing allowing my parents to pay to for college. I'm better than community college. I love this place, so I need to work hard. It's hard managing a social life and my academics. I've found myself partying and drinking a lot on Friday and Saturday nights when I should be doing work to momentarily forget about my stress for a whole night. Then I want to watch my beloved Florida Gators football and New York Giants...I'm rambling now. But you get the point.

Now you may be asking how I'm progressing with the next chapter. I'm in the middle of writing it, but I haven't worked on it in weeks, maybe even a month. I'll try getting this new chapter done between all this chaos, but I'm making no promises. I hope the remaining people who are waiting on this story can be more patient. I'm really sorry. I understand if people have already left, but to the people that have stayed, I sincerely thank you for still believing in this story.

Sincerely,

Halo Ash


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